Judging by Zhou Zike’s expression, it seemed as though he had never really cared about this matter.
“Why are you telling me this?” he asked.
Guo Xiaoli said, “Well, the fact that you came to see A-zhen today makes me believe that you’ve grown up, that you’re not as childish anymore.”
Zhou Zike extinguished the cigarette butt in the ashtray.
“You, and A-zhen,” Guo Xiaoli said, “if the two of you can give me a peace of mind in the future, I’ll be content. As for Liang Qiuyun, I can no longer control him…”
Zhou Zike looked down and glanced at his phone, which was vibrating frantically. Ai Wentao was calling him as if his life depended on it.
“…this afternoon he promised me that he wouldn’t disband Mattias,” Guo Xiaoli muttered to herself. “Anyway, the group hasn’t had any activities for months, and it doesn’t really affect him if he just keeps his name on the roster. In Yun Laoban’s eyes, ASE is nothing more than an insignificant workshop. Tang Zhen, who once gained worldwide fame, is now just a washed-up idol who attempted suicide.”
Zhou Zike quickly replied to Ai Wentao’s message, asking him what was going on. Ai Wentao responded immediately, saying, “I thought you went off the grid!”
“Suicide is not something an idol should do,” Guo Xiaoli said.
“Why did he attempt suicide?” Zhou Zike asked.
“Because of that illness,” Guo Xiaoli replied.
Zhou Zike asked, “Why did he get that illness?”
Guo Xiaoli glanced at his phone and said, “You find it strange too, don’t you?”
“The people at the company find it strange too. So many people who had contact with A-zhen, each one of them came to me after they found out about this and asked, ‘Guo-jie, what’s going on? Is it true or false?’ Anyone can get this kind of illness, but not Tang Zhen. He started as a child star and joined ASE during his high school years. Throughout these years, no matter how many things he encountered, no matter what difficulties he faced… he never said he couldn’t handle it and came to us crying for help. He was always the one with the best mindset. It’s common for newcomers to have grievances, to care about gains and losses, to feel that the world is unfair, but he never felt that way. He was particularly open-minded. He was the kind of person who wasn’t afraid of anything that came his way. When Mattias debuted, so many people tried to trip him up, but he didn’t even bat an eye. It was as if nothing could defeat him. Except for Liang Qiuyun.”
Zhou Zike fell silent for a moment, then suddenly rolled down the car window to its maximum, as if the car felt suffocating and uncomfortable to him.
“I thought you didn’t like gossip,” Zhou Zike said.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“I don’t like people who like gossip,” Guo Xiaoli replied.
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“You wouldn’t understand,” Guo Xiaoli said. She unbuckled her seatbelt and looked at Zhou Zike. “What does KAIser mean to you?”
Zhou Zike glanced at her and shook his head. It was unclear whether he didn’t know or if KAIser simply meant nothing to him.
Guo Xiaoli said earnestly, “For Tang Zhen, Mattias is his home, his belonging, his greatest effort.”
Zhou Zike chuckled.
“Why are you laughing?” Guo Xiaoli asked.
“How many people have you taught to say those words?” Zhou Zike said.
“You know, this is a cliché, right? Even ordinary people can tell it’s a cliché…” Guo Xiaoli said. “But Tang Zhen is not an ordinary person. He means it!”
“Your senior, Tang Zhen, is genuine. Back then, when Liang Qiuyun said he would strive for Mattias for ten or twenty years, A-zhen was already famous enough to go to France for a movie. I was happy for him, but at the same time, I worried about A-yun’s future. Everyone thought Tang Zhen would definitely terminate his contract with ASE and leave Mattias. I was concerned about what would happen to A-yun if Tang Zhen left. During that time, A-yun hosted ‘Roman Online’ alone. I remember one episode with guest Yang Bing’an. A-yun was hosting the show, and suddenly, he said on air that there had been many rumors about Mattias possibly disbanding. Yang was stunned. Liang Qiuyun looked into the camera and said he had heard about it too. He respected the company’s decision and, more importantly, respected A-zhen’s choice. For him, A-zhen’s future was the most important thing. Even if A-zhen chose to disband, Mattias would remain as Liang Qiuyun’s lifelong memory. No matter what happens in the future, whether it’s Mattias or A-zhen, they will be the most precious things in his life.”
Zhou Zike’s phone kept vibrating incessantly as Ai Wentao’s messages kept pouring in, one after another, with no response from anyone.
“This person knows how to talk,” Guo Xiaoli said. “The production team was shocked, thinking it was our company’s instruction. That episode had incredibly high ratings, and even the newspapers reported it, writing about the public confession of Tang Zhen’s partner on the show. You know how this industry works — when you’re popular, you’re Yun Laoban. But when you’re not, even if you make the headlines, you’re just ‘Tang Zhen’s partner,’ and your name won’t even be mentioned in the title.”
“At that time, I was worried every day. A-yun hadn’t found his own position yet, while A-zhen was already so popular. The group was imbalanced, and it couldn’t last. Liang Qiuyun also said back then that if A-zhen could wait for him, wait for him for a few more years until Liang Qiuyun became famous, they could protect this group together,” Guo Xiaoli said, suddenly laughing. “Listen to the words he used, ‘protect.'”
“The day after that episode aired, A-zhen took a leave and flew back from France. From that episode onwards, until the day he went to the hospital a few days ago, he never missed a single appearance, even though Liang Qiuyun would never appear again.”
“Do you know what Liang Qiuyun said when I asked him later? I asked him, ‘Didn’t you openly say on the TV show that you would strive for Mattias for ten or twenty years? Why didn’t you come back to China? Why didn’t you spend time with A-zhen?’ He said, ‘Guo-jie, are you joking with me? It’s for the show’s effect. Everyone loves to watch that kind of content. Isn’t that what you taught me?'”
“Do you think I didn’t want A-zhen to distance himself from Liang Qiuyun as much as possible? Why did he come back in the first place? Because he believed in those promises, he valued those things too much. When you value something too much, problems arise. Mattias has long been a name but no substance, barely hanging on at ASE. It’s just to give Tang Zhen something to do.”
“He’s severely ill. He can’t write songs, can’t act, and can’t even take care of his daily life. Only in a company like ASE, relying on Mattias, relying on the dreams of fans, relying on the exposure from small shows, can he sustain a bit of his career. Otherwise, what can he do? What can Tang Zhen do? It’s his only hope at the moment. If one day even Mattias disbands, he’ll be truly finished. It could cost him his life. I’m not lying to you. If we were able to discover it in time and save him once, what about the second time? The third time?”
Zhou Zike lowered his head. “So, he really did it because of Liang Qiuyun…”
“No matter the reason, Liang Qiuyun has promised me not to terminate the contract,” Guo Xiaoli said. “He’s willing to have his name associated with Mattias, willing to give A-zhen a way out, and we won’t mistreat him. In a few months, it will be Mattias’ tenth anniversary, and the company will make big moves. We’ll give Yun Laoban the grandeur he desires. He’ll be the absolute protagonist–”
Zhou Zike interrupted her as if he hadn’t heard what she said afterward. He asked, “What exactly is their relationship?”
Guo Xiaoli looked at him. “I thought everyone in the company understood it clearly.”
Zhou Zike was taken aback.
“A-zhen’s feelings are genuine. Who can’t see that?”
Mr. Ai Wentao couldn’t figure out one thing.
In his mere 23 years of life experience no matter what it was, whether it was a good thing or not, it was always others fawning over Zhou Zike, others coaxing Zhou Zike, others trying to please Zhou Zike. From the young men and women to the neighbors, even Zhou Zike’s own father, during their school years, would only scold them to their faces, while secretly asking the driver to take them out for a meal and gather information about his son. Where was his son staying overnight? Was his son eating and drinking well? How was his performance? Did he need money? Even a few years ago, when Zhou Zike suddenly announced that he wanted to join Asia Star Entertainment, his father would scold and threaten to kick him out, but within a few days, he would have his sister coax him back home for a meal.
Zhou Zike grew up like this, to the point that Ai Wentao, despite knowing him for so long, had never seen him take anything seriously or treat anyone as an individual. Ai Wentao understood him too well. Zhou Zike had never changed since he was young. He was arrogant, aloof, ungrateful, and unyielding. He kept his distance from strangers and rejected others. He looked down on everyone and didn’t get close to anyone. If someone wasn’t attentive to him, he dismissed them. If someone was too attentive to him, he dismissed them even more. This was the kind of person he was, and anyone who dealt with him was asking for trouble and inviting misery. But Ai Wentao couldn’t help but revolve around him. Little Ai always had a soft spot for him.
Look at Xiao Zhou, his classmate. Ai had been contemplating this since their school days, observing his handsome face, his elegant demeanor, his taste in clothing, and his physique when swimming! His temperament as a young master and his inherent quirks complemented each other perfectly, as if they were naturally meant to be.
Every time Ai saw those fangirls waving their light sticks and screaming their hearts out, “Zhou Zike!! Zike!!!” he would sneer inwardly. “Girls, I noticed him long before you did! When I set my eyes on him, you guys didn’t even know where he was!”
Sometimes, Ai Wentao would also think that it would have been better if Xiao Zhou hadn’t entered the entertainment industry at all.
Then they could still play basketball together during their school days, chase after girls, graduate from university, and live a comfortable life in their respective family businesses. They could play with cars, boats, women, and islands—whatever they wanted. It would have been so much better!
It’s better than the current situation, where he hardly ever see a trace of Zhou Zike. And when he finally does, it’s always accompanied by a gloomy atmosphere. Ai Wentao couldn’t even understand what Zhou Zike was saying anymore. He felt like this guy was becoming more and more silent, speaking in circles, and there was a sense of despair in his words. It made him feel uneasy, and something wasn’t right.
It would be best for you to leave while you can. Ai Wentao had advised him like this before. He was familiar with the entertainment industry. He knew many little “sisters and brothers.” To him, that place was like an amusement park. It’s fun to play outside, watching from a distance is fine, but once you enter, it’s not fun anymore. The entertainment industry is not a good place to have fun. People consume each other. You live being consumed, and even after death, even if you enter hell and turn to ashes, you’ll still be consumed. Nobody can escape, no matter how hard they try. If you can’t afford to be consumed, just don’t enter this place.
Zhou Zike, a fine young master, a noble gentleman, why let others consume him? What’s the point?
If they hadn’t skipped class that day to play basketball at the nearby court, if they hadn’t been called back home by another classmate to drink, and if they hadn’t seen the music video playing in the supermarket on the side of the road, Zhou Zike probably wouldn’t have known who Tang Zhen was. And then, none of the subsequent events would have happened. Zhou Zike wouldn’t have asked, “Who is this person?” and their classmate wouldn’t have replied, “I know him, he acted in one of those films, quite explicit.” They wouldn’t have ended up drinking too much, with flushed faces, squeezing onto the sofa in their classmate’s basement, half asleep while watching that slightly erotic art film.
Ai Wentao still thinks that the movie was too ridiculous when he recalls it. The so-called “that kind of film” was just a gay film, with Tang Zhen as the main character. The so-called “quite explicit” meant that Tang Zhen had his upper body clothes peeled off to his waist, with his back facing the camera, revealing a section of his pale back as he sat on another man, kissing and trembling as they moved.
“Can we fast forward? It’s just showing this much?” Ai impatiently said that day, “Can we switch to something else? Something with bigger breasts.”
Zhou Zike was sitting next to him. That day, Zhou Zike was still very quiet, leaning against the backrest and watching the movie without saying a word. When they switched to another film, Zhou Zike drank a lot of beer and went to the restroom. He didn’t come back until long after Ai Wentao had finished drinking.
Ai Wentao later thought that his buddy was most likely interested in Tang Zhen after that day.
Based on Xiao Ai’s 23 years of life experience, he sincerely believes that no one can resist Zhou Zike’s charm. If he couldn’t do it, then it’s impossible for anyone else, even if that person is Tang Zhen. Xiao Ai wonders what’s so special about Tang Zhen. Isn’t he just an idol star? If he shows interest in you, it means he respects you. When you’re in this industry, you can’t underestimate yourself.
In fact, if Tang Zhen hadn’t been firm and declined to attend the dinner or accept gifts, there wouldn’t have been the incident where Zhou Zike, seemingly possessed, drove to the company’s entrance to confront someone. Furthermore, there wouldn’t have been the incident that left Ai Wentao astonished: Zhou Zike spent days trying to confront someone but ended up getting himself trapped.
In response to this, Ai Wentao’s father shamelessly expressed that Xiao Zhou is a promising young man. Being an idol star is equivalent to being an artist, and they are all engineers of the soul. As for the group of friends who drink and chase after girls with Ai Wentao and Zhou Zike, they don’t show it openly but mock Zhou Zike for becoming a trainee in ASE. Ai Wentao can only tell them to wait and see, as Zhou Zike is about to catch a big fish.
Xiao Ai has experience with such matters, and he is full of confidence in Zhou Zike. They say that forcibly picked fruits don’t taste sweet, but Xiao Ai believes that once you get them, even the bitterest fruit will taste sweet in your mouth. It’s the same with girls; the longer you pursue them, the more precious they become, and the more you can’t forget them if they remain out of reach. Xiao Ai ponders that just as he was with Zhou Zike back then, Zhou Zike is probably feeling the same about Tang Zhen now.
However, now that some time has passed, Xiao Ai can’t understand. It’s been so long, how many years have passed, and yet, why is he still so infatuated? Shouldn’t he be tired of it by now? Why is he still so stubborn and blind to reality?
“Can we sit down and have a meal first?” Ai Wentao earnestly persuaded, “Your sister is getting really worried. She said you haven’t eaten much at home. Let me find a place and order some dishes. Haven’t we gone a whole day without eating?”
Zhou Zike finally sat down and looked at the table full of food for a while.
“Just came from Tang Zhen’s place?” Ai Wentao asked helplessly, as Zhou Zike reeked of cigarette smoke.
Zhou Zike remained silent for a while and then asked, “Where’s the menu?”
Wow, syphilis. That was unexpected.