Zhou Zike didn’t take the elevator. Liang Qiuyun walked towards them, assuming an unwavering welcoming posture that couldn’t be refused. Qi Lu had originally planned to support Tang Zhen from Zhou Zike’s hands, but seeing Liang Qiuyun step ahead of him, he quickly reached out and took Tang Zhen into his own hands. Zhou Zike didn’t say anything; he glanced at Liang Qiuyun and removed his hand from Tang Zhen’s back, taking a step back.
Liang Qiuyun also looked at him, their eyes meeting in a territorial display of two alpha males. Zhou Zike remained silent, showing no intention of confronting Liang Qiuyun here.
Wen Xin said, “Zike, hurry to the radio station. Guo-jie is urging you. Don’t be late!”
The elevator doors closed, leaving Zhou Zike outside. He glanced at Tang Zhen a few more times, but without any lingering attachment, he followed the hotel door and stepped into the sunlight outside. Liang Qiuyun watched him leave, still holding Tang Zhen in his arms. He lowered his head and saw that Tang Zhen’s eyes were closed, leaning against him.
This person had indeed become much lighter.
“How did that guy come here?” Liang Qiuyun asked.
“What’s it to you?” Wen Xin replied irritably.
There were still other hotel staff members in the elevator, all keeping their heads down and remaining silent.
Liang Qiuyun asked, “How many pills did Tang Zhen take?”
“I don’t know.”
“And what kind of assistant are you?”
Wen Xin said, “You know that Tang Zhen Laoshi needs medication to sleep. If it weren’t for you suddenly deciding to hold the press conference today, he wouldn’t have taken the pills and still couldn’t fall asleep. I really don’t know how many he took in the end. It’s easy for you to criticize, but have you ever taken care of him?”
As the elevator reached the eighth floor, Liang Qiuyun asked, “Wen Xin, when did you join the company?”
Wen Xin wanted to ask how that was relevant, but before she could speak, the elevator doors opened. A staff member came to greet them and lead them to the conference hall. Liang Qiuyun asked him to open the door to a changing room.
Tang Zhen couldn’t wake up. Throughout the journey, he would open his eyes briefly, only to close his heavy eyelids again shortly after. The potent medication seemed to have taken away his entire being.
Wen Xin was afraid of this situation. Tang Zhen’s doctor had mentioned it to her and Guo-jie. Tang Zhen’s condition went far beyond ordinary psychological issues; he was a patient who needed medication when he fell ill. However, the medications associated with this condition often came with significant side effects, and it was difficult to control the dosage and effects. If taking medication interfered with his work, especially for someone like Tang Zhen who had perfectionist tendencies and was prone to self-blame, once he lost control, his condition could easily worsen. They must not put any more pressure on him.
So Wen Xin didn’t dare to urge Tang Zhen or even wake him up. There were hundreds of impatient reporters outside, so she had to find a way to calm them first. She directed several hotel staff members to bring all the gifts to the conference hall, and then she went looking for Liang Qiuyun’s assistant, Xiao Meng, everywhere.
Xiao Meng said, “You’ve arrived. We’ve been waiting for you.”
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.
Qfc Wlc ibbxfv lcab atf nfcef jcv yegra lcab ijeutafg. Vtf mbeivc’a yfilfnf la. “Tbe wjvf atfrf gfqbgafgr kjla tfgf, jcv sbe vlvc’a fnfc qgbnlvf atfw klat j ybaaif bo kjafg joafg jii atlr alwf?”
Wljb Zfcu gjlrfv jc fsfygbk. “Xeb-plf rjlv la kjr jii ajxfc mjgf bo ys sbe. Qf’gf tfgf cbk, jcv sbe’gf yijwlcu er obg sbeg ijaf jgglnji?”
Wen Xin held back her frustration and walked into the conference hall with her bag. “Fine, fine. Just step aside for now.”
She distributed the gifts and red envelopes, one by one, to the reporters. This group of journalists was now like a bunch of red-hot explosive barrels, ready to explode at the slightest touch. Wen Xin apologized with a smile and asked them to sign one by one. “Sorry, sorry, everyone. As you know, Tang Zhen Laoshi has special health conditions. Today’s sudden situation caught us off guard. Please understand, please understand…”
“What the hell are you guys doing? Such a big show. Those who know think he committed suicide, and those who don’t know would think he ascended to heaven!” A journalist with a camera hanging from his chest was so hot that he had taken off his clothes. He approached Wen Xin and started berating her, ignoring the gift bag and tossing it aside. Everyone in the industry knew that the bigger the gift bag, the less valuable things were inside, and the better the packaging, the more deceiving it was. On the other hand, a journalist next to him pulled out a bottle of wine from the bag, dumbfounded. “Oh my god…”
Wen Xin continued to force a smile, but a heavy stone hung in her heart.
The reporters didn’t open the envelope containing the money directly in front of Wen Xin. Instead, they only opened the gift bag. They were used to receiving small trinkets like keychains, T-shirts, or figurines. But as they looked into the bag, they found a bottle of wine, three boxes of tea, a package of pastries, an envelope containing money, and a letter, along with a bouquet of flowers.
Someone opened the letter, and a few slips of paper fell out. They unfolded them and saw an envelope with the Lan Zhuang Hotel logo, containing a gift card and two swimming vouchers.
“Oh, Lan Zhuang!”
“How do we use these swimming vouchers?”
“What’s the gift card for?”
One person repeatedly checked the quality of the three boxes of tea. “Is it worth waiting for three hours for this?”
“Why is Mao Chengrui so willing to spend money?”
“ASE must have had a mutually beneficial cooperation with Zhou Shiyou since they’re taking care of his child.”
“Come on, Lan Zhuang is such a huge industry. Do they really need to cooperate with Mao Chengrui?”
“Why didn’t you say so earlier? ASE has been giving these… I didn’t attend ASE’s event a few days ago. Did any of you go?”
“No need to go. They just gave a lousy cushion. Mao Chengrui is stingy. He probably only sent something because of Tang Zhen’s situation.”
The discussions from the back row reached the front row, and by the time Wen Xin made her way to the front, the reporters who hadn’t received their gifts yet were much friendlier and understanding. “We understand, it’s not easy for you either. It’s okay, we can wait a little longer. Let Tang Zhen take his time to prepare,” a senior journalist said to Wen Xin.
Wen Xin’s face was sweating, but she finally felt a sense of relief.
Assistant Xiao Meng looked at the contents of the gift bag and asked the person next to him where they came from. The person ignored him, so Xiao Meng looked up and realized it was Qi Lu standing next to him. Asking a mute person for an answer was pointless. Xiao Meng bypassed Qi Lu and went straight to Wen Xin to ask. Wen Xin replied, “None of your business.”
Wen Xin returned to the changing room and saw that Tang Zhen had already opened his eyes. He was sitting next to Liang Qiuyun, still looking a bit dizzy with his head lowered. Liang Qiuyun held the back of his neck and vigorously wiped his face with a towel soaked in cold water. Wen Xin walked over and was about to snatch the towel away, saying, “Why are you wiping his face so forcefully?”
“Did your Laoshi have plastic surgery?” Liang Qiuyun asked.
“You’re the one who had plastic surgery!”
“Then stop being so delicate,” Liang Qiuyun said.
Wen Xin couldn’t find words to respond.
Liang Qiuyun called a staff member to bring a bottle of aromatic oil. He pinched the back of Tang Zhen’s neck, making him lift his head, and applied pressure to a few acupoints on his neck.
When Zhou Zike arrived at the radio station, Xiao Yang had already been waiting for him for ten minutes. Xiao Yang didn’t seem surprised by his lateness, but rather astonished that this young master had actually come to work and was only ten minutes late. “Have you been in a program before?” he asked.
Zhou Zike sat down, sweat dripping from his forehead, and no one knew where he had been. “No,” he replied, placing his car keys on the table.
A staff member handed him a glass of water. Xiao Yang let out a sigh. “Well, do you know what to say later?”
Zhou Zike shook his head.
Xiao Yang gestured to a staff member outside, who brought him a pair of headphones. “This is the previous episode. Take a listen first. We’ll start recording in twenty minutes.”
Zhou Zike felt restless and couldn’t focus on anything. He held the headphones in his hand but didn’t put them on.
“I didn’t expect you to come,” Xiao Yang whispered to the staff member outside.
“I didn’t expect it either,” Zhou Zike replied.
“I knew it! I was actually planning to impersonate your voice and record an episode to fool your silly fans. But now you’ve come and ruined my plan. I even had the lines written…”
With Xiao Yang was getting noisy, Zhou Zike lowered his head and put on the headphones.
At Asia Star Entertainment, almost every idol has hosted a radio program to some extent. The program duration is not long, usually no more than half an hour, and it is typically aired late at night. The content is simple, with idols sharing updates on their lives, playing their new songs, chatting with guests, reading fan letters, and answering questions.
In an era before social media became popular, radio programs were often the only way fans could connect with their idols. Even now, when everyone has a Weibo account and the internet brings people closer than ever, ASE still maintains the tradition of radio programs. Being able to hear the voice of their idols before going to sleep, through the radio signals, reading their letters and bidding them goodnight through the hazy darkness, has always been a fundamental need for many young women. This is something that social media can never replace.
In his first year of debut, KAIser had their own radio program called “Caesar’s World,” which aired every Friday night at 11 p.m. It continued uninterrupted for three years, with all eight members except Zhou Zike taking turns hosting in pairs. There were also individual programs, such as Xiao Yang’s “Xiao Yang Midnight Train,” which aired every Saturday night at 11 p.m. Originally, this time slot belonged to Tang Zhen.
Zhou Zike had never participated in any episode of the program, despite the high demand within KAIser’s fandom for him to appear. For three years, not a single person had heard Zhou Zike say that one word, “Goodnight.”
As the headphones continued to play Xiao Yang’s previous episode, he came across a letter when he read fan letters. The letter was from a recently heartbroken girl who had encountered a scumbag. She told Xiao Yang that she didn’t want to live anymore. She had given her all for a man who never truly saw her as a person: “He had an ex-girlfriend, I know that, but I just liked him. I was willing to sacrifice everything for him, willing to do anything for him. I was willing! I didn’t even ask for his love or expect any gratitude from him. I just wanted him to be happy, to be well. Maybe I hoped he would glance at me a little more, but it doesn’t matter. I did so much, gave so much, and he seemed appreciative, but before long, he went back to his ex-girlfriend and completely kicked me out of his world. It’s fine, I can accept it. I want him to be happy, I can accept it! What I can’t accept is that my efforts all along gave them a chance to be together again. What I can’t accept is that he might have been using me from the beginning, using me and then discarding me… What I can’t accept is that even at this point, I still like him, I still want to love him…”
Zhou Zike unconsciously touched his nose and looked around at his surroundings. Then he heard Xiao Yang read the signature at the end of the letter, “Wenjun, who was heartbroken by a man surnamed Zhou.”
Disgusted, Zhou Zike took off the headphones.
The rumors of Mattias disbanding have been circulating for a while now. Even from the beginning of their formation, the “disbandment” rumors have persistently followed the two young artists. Tang Zhen’s stardom skyrocketed right from the start, while Liang Qiuyun was still a relatively unknown figure. The significant gap between them led many perceptive individuals to believe that their partnership couldn’t last. People in the industry would often say that the group would inevitably disband in a certain year and month, followed by Tang Zhen leaving ASE and most likely signing with Wanbang Entertainment. There were whispers from Wanbang Entertainment as well, suggesting that the CEO, Mr. Chen, highly admired Tang Zhen and recognized his talent. If Tang Zhen expressed interest in collaborating, they would spare no expense to sign him and invest heavily in his career.
ASE and Wanbang Entertainment, one being an idol workshop and the other a star conglomerate, even the most naive person could figure out which path to choose. However, there was no movement from Tang Zhen’s side. Year after year, he led Mattias to greater heights, and ASE flourished alongside them, growing bigger and bigger.
The rumors of disbandment circulated year after year, but the group stayed intact. Tang Zhen seemed comfortable staying with ASE, showing a sense of loyalty even to his partner who never gained much popularity. Fortunately, things took a turn when Mattias reached its fifth year. Tang Zhen introduced Liang Qiuyun to Hong Kong director Ding Wangzhong, and they instantly clicked. They collaborated on their first film, “The Cold Flame,” right away. After the film’s release, Liang Qiuyun rose to fame as a dark horse. He gained a loyal following not only in mainland China but also across the ocean. The media hailed him as a late-blooming talent, achieving success after five years. As Liang Qiuyun’s schedule became increasingly busy, he had to start missing out on Mattias’ group activities. Coincidentally, in the same year, Tang Zhen, known for his good public image, suddenly became the target of frequent negative rumors in the media. Reports emerged of him being involved in physical altercations, arriving late, hiring prostitutes, undergoing plastic surgery, and engaging in drug use and gambling. Even in candid street photos, Tang Zhen appeared exhausted, devoid of any smile. He started reducing his workload significantly, staying at home more often. Perhaps to avoid the paparazzi, he even grew out his hair, making it difficult to capture his face on camera.
This was the second time that rumors of Mattias disbanding spread among the public. The fans of Liang Qiuyun were the loudest in expressing their concern. They believed that their admired actor was not cut out to be an idol—wearing flashy performance outfits, dancing and pleasing fans of all ages. This was not what the tough and masculine Liang Qiuyun should be doing.
But as the clamor faded away, it seemed to disappear without a trace, like receding tides in the sea. Mattias remained intact. Although there was one year when Liang Qiuyun didn’t participate in any Mattias-related activities except for releasing a collaborative album, many people considered it as good as a disbandment. However, Liang Qiuyun continued to express in the media that Mattias was his lifelong home and that Tang Zhen would always be the most important person to him.
One year later, Liang Qiuyun suddenly announced his high-profile return to “Roman Online,” a show he co-hosted with Tang Zhen for nearly a decade. Over the course of ten years, Liang Qiuyun transformed from an ordinary teenager into an influential martial arts superstar, while Tang Zhen’s condition continued to deteriorate. Forgetting lines and arriving late on set became commonplace for him. Tang Zhen, who once claimed to never use a body double, now had most of his scenes completed by stand-ins. During that time, any show featuring Tang Zhen garnered significant attention because of his poor condition. He would tremble while playing the piano, sing off-key, and forget lyrics. Regardless, the viewership and online engagement for these shows were exceptionally high.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to describe Tang Zhen’s state as a “mess.” He seemed to no longer care about his reputation and image. There were instances where he roamed the streets, got lost, and ended up cornered by paparazzi, but he would just huddle in a corner, covering his head and remaining silent.
Some experts solemnly stated that only one of them, Tang Zhen or Liang Qiuyun, was destined to succeed, and their paths were incompatible.
For the third time, almost everyone was saying that Tang Zhen was finished and that Mattias was bound to disband. They believed Liang Qiuyun had no attachment to ASE whatsoever. There were even rumors that Liang Qiuyun had close connections with several executives at Wanbang Entertainment, and the company had already expressed its willingness to offer him a sky-high contract. It was a matter of time before Yun Laoban joined Wanbang.
If Tang Zhen hadn’t committed suicide, perhaps Liang Qiuyun would have truly walked away.
In his first public appearance after the suicide attempt, Tang Zhen arrived late, staggering in his footsteps, unable to conceal his illness. Liang Qiuyun accompanied him on stage and apologized to the media alongside him. The rumors of Mattias disbanding were shattered once again. Tang Zhen announced during the press conference that he would gradually resume his regular work. Liang Qiuyun also expressed his commitment to doing everything possible to help A-zhen get back on track. Finally, Tang Zhen stood up and bowed ninety degrees, expressing gratitude for everyone’s concern. He acknowledged his failure to be a good role model and hoped for forgiveness from his fans and moviegoers.
God, what a scum. I really hope there is a ray of light somewhere soon for Tang Zhen.