Translator: Viv
Editor: thomas
Luo Tiantian received a call from Liang Qiuyun’s assistant, Xiao Meng, while in the studio, who informed him that Yun Laoban’s car was waiting downstairs for him.
Coincidentally, they had just finished the final set of photos, and many staff members came to greet Luo Tiantian. Recently, Luo Tiantian’s career was going well, with his starring TV drama airing in prime time, a new movie about to be released, and he had also signed up for a popular outdoor variety show. The news hadn’t been announced yet, but the industry was already aware of it.
As the lead vocalist of the group that had been overlooked by Asia Star Entertainment for many years, Luo Tiantian finally had the opportunity to shine after the collapse of the mountain that was Tang Zhen.
Luo Tiantian was well aware of how little sincerity was behind the perfunctory attentiveness of the people around him. He returned the clothes, shoes, and accessories used for the photoshoot to the stylist, put on his own coat, spent a moment in the restroom, and then bid farewell to the photographer and others. He hurriedly left with his assistant, while checking his earlobes along the way to make sure he hadn’t forgotten to remove any earrings.
Liang Qiuyun’s nanny car was parked in a corner of the underground garage.
As soon as Luo Tiantian got in the car, he heard Tang Zhen’s voice saying, “I’ve long forgotten how to dance.”
Liang Qiuyun sat on the leather seat, holding a file with a blank cover, and looked down at the screen inside the car. It was a rough cut of “Roman Online”.
When Luo Tiantian approached, Liang Qiuyun put down the file and pulled him close. Luo Tiantian sat on his lap, glancing at the file discarded aside.
“What perfume is this?” Liang Qiuyun leaned closer to his neck and asked in a low voice.
Luo Tiantian rubbed his nose and smiled, saying, “Who knows?”
He gazed into Liang Qiuyun’s eyes with affection, feeling an instinctual need to please him. Luo Tiantian reached out and untied Liang Qiuyun’s tie, intending to lower his head and kiss his throat. Suddenly, he was grabbed by the hand, and the tie was snatched away.
In the next moment, Luo Tiantian’s vision plunged into darkness. His eyes were covered by the tie. It took him a while to realize the meaning of being blindfolded and to anticipate what was probably going to happen next.
A pair of hands slipped into his jacket, sliding downward and removing his pants. Luo Tiantian instinctively suppressed his aggression, listening to Liang Qiuyun’s increasingly heavy breathing. In the darkness, Luo Tiantian slowly wrapped his arms around Liang Qiuyun’s neck.
He needed to tremble moderately, evade moderately, be moderately weak, and moderately afraid… Indeed, Liang Qiuyun had started to kiss him.
Liang Qiuyun didn’t particularly like kissing, further confirming Luo Tiantian’s speculation at that moment.
Liang Qiuyun reached out and pressed down on Luo Tiantian’s knees, commanding him to bring his legs together. The skin on his inner thighs was tender, and with the slickness of lube, it quickly turned crimson under Liang Qiuyun’s touch. As uncomfortable as the friction was, it was still better than the discomfort in his heart. Luo Tiantian gritted his teeth and listened to Liang Qiuyun softly uttering the name “A-Zhen” in between his gasps. Luo Tiantian was genuinely unhappy.
But upon closer reflection, it had been two or three years now, since Luo Tiantian had been in such a situation. For the past two or three years, he had been just “Tiantian” in front of Liang Qiuyun.
Liang Qiuyun was kissing him passionately and fiercely, even the hand that held him was full of strength, tightly embracing him as if afraid that Luo Tiantian would vanish the next second. Luo Tiantian couldn’t see him, only enduring such kisses and such an embrace, feeling his heart being swelling and wrenching painfully, it was truly unbearable.
Luo Tiantian endured it, remaining silent when he was being treated as someone else. It wasn’t until Liang Qiuyun’s hand stopped moving and he took a deep breath that Luo Tiantian exhaled, feeling liquid trickling down between his legs. Without needing to look, Luo Tiantian knew what it was like down there. Liang Qiuyun was still breathing heavily, resting his forehead against Luo Tiantian’s chest. Luo Tiantian pushed him away, freeing his own hand and removing the blindfold from his eyes.
Luo Tiantian opened his eyes and looked at Liang Qiuyun clearly.
Liang Qiuyun also saw him.
But upon closer reflection, Luo Tiantian hadn’t experienced such a situation for two or three years now. For the past two or three years, he had been just “Tiantian” in front of Liang Qiuyun.
It felt as if they had just woken up, as if what had just happened between them was merely a dream, and now the dream had ended.
Liang Qiuyun smiled and reached out to pinch Luo Tiantian’s chin.
In the background, a rough cut sample was still playing on the screen, reaching its end with Dong Ling’s line, “Tang Zhen really belongs to the type that makes people feel insecure. You like him because you still don’t understand him.”
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.
“If you don’t believe, ask Liang Qiuyun Laoshi!”
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Lf kjr kfa lcrlvf, mifjgis tjnlcu ieyglmjafv tlwrfio lc atf yjatgbbw yfobgf. Rbk, cb wjaafg tbk ylu Oljcu Hlesec kjr, Oeb Kljcaljc vlvc’a offi ilxf tf kjr ragjlclcu tlwrfio.
When it was all inside, Luo Tiantian lowered his head and rubbed against Liang Qiuyun’s brow ridge.
“You…treating me like a cheap whore again…” Luo Tiantian mumbled as he slowly moved his waist.
Liang Qiuyun looked at his face.
“Whoever you want me to be, I’ll be that person,” Luo Tiantian said, his neck drooping. When Liang Qiuyun exerted force from below, Luo Tiantian’s waist went weak. He leaned against Liang Qiuyun’s chest, feeling the strength that made him rely on every muscle of Liang Qiuyun’s body. It was the protective web he had longed for. “I’ve always had a question I wanted to ask you.”
Liang Qiuyun told him to ask it later.
“I want to ask it now,” Luo Tiantian said.
Liang Qiuyun remained silent, and Luo Tiantian lifted his eyes to look at him, staring intently. After a while, Luo Tiantian smiled.
“Why is it that every time you treat me as Tang Zhen, you don’t actually do it?” Luo Tiantian asked. He looked at Liang Qiuyun, who remained silent for a long time. Luo Tiantian smiled again, his face approaching Liang Qiuyun’s, resembling a mischievous little devil looking for someone’s shortcomings.
Liang Qiuyun reached out and pinched Luo Tiantian’s face. “Because your Tang Zhen Laoshi and you are not the same kind of person.”
Luo Tiantian’s smile immediately froze on his face.
On the seventh day after Tang Zhen was discharged from the hospital, Ai Wentao found Zhou Zike in a corner of a bar. “Bro, your sister has been looking for you everywhere. Let’s hurry and go home,” Ai Wentao said, intending to take him away.
Zhou Zike frowned. “Leave me alone.”
Ai Wentao was momentarily stunned. Over the years, he rarely heard his bro speak to him so harshly.
Zhou Zike didn’t want to engage with him and coincidentally received a text message on his phone. He glanced at it.
Unsteadily, he stood up, preparing to leave.
“Where are you going?” Ai Wentao had just managed to calm himself down.
“Going to work,” Zhou Zike muttered in a low voice.
Ai Wentao was taken aback. “What are you doing?”
Guo Xiaoli heard early in the morning from Wen Xin that Tang Zhen’s condition was not good. Wen Xin explained over the phone that she had brought the gifts Zhou Zike had bought to Tang Zhen’s place this morning and even apologized to Tang Zhen, but Tang Zhen didn’t look or listen. He asked Wen Xin to take the gift upstairs. “His back is in severe pain, and he keeps vomiting, but nothing comes out except some liquid. Medication doesn’t seem to help either.”
Then Guo Xiaoli’s phone ran out of battery. Vice President Tan’s secretary asked her to attend a meeting, so Guo Xiaoli had no choice but to temporarily set aside the matter with Wen Xin. She brought Tang Zhen’s medical records, Matthias’ 10th anniversary project plan, and a rough cut sample of the current episode of “Roman Online” and headed to the meeting.
The meeting was attended by several directors of ASE, with the highest ranking being Vice President Tan, who oversaw artist management. Manager Lin and Manager Li were also present. Guo Xiaoli quickly played the sample of the episode, distributed copies of the project plan and medical records to everyone.
Vice President Tan opened Tang Zhen’s medical records and saw a doctor’s signed guarantee on the last page.
“Alright, thank you for your hard work, Xiaoli. You can turn it off now,” he said.
Guo Xiaoli instructed her secretary to turn off the projection.
“I believe you all now understand A-Zhen’s current work abilities,” Guo Xiaoli said, her heavily made-up eyes scanning each person in the room. “His condition is excellent, and the results of the program speak for themselves. The next steps and all the planned activities are progressing smoothly. I don’t know what concerns you may have right now, so feel free to speak up!”
Vice President Tan nodded and continued flipping through the ten-year project plan that had kept Guo Xiaoli busy day and night.
It was Manager Li who spoke first. He opened Tang Zhen’s medical records and whispered to Manager Lin next to him, “If Tang Zhen had passed away that day, with his current status, he would probably have become a legend, transcending mortal boundaries. Is it really necessary to go through all this fuss to advance a plan like this?”
His voice wasn’t particularly loud, but coincidentally, everyone in the meeting room could hear it.
Guo Xiaoli, holding a cup of tea, walked over and splashed it directly on Manager Li’s face.
Guo Xiaoli was known for her explosive temper in the industry. After Vice President Tan intervened and reassured everyone multiple times that Tang Zhen’s work would continue as planned and the company would fully support it, Guo Xiaoli let go of Manager Li.
She returned to her office to change her clothes and took off the wrinkled suit. It was then that she remembered she hadn’t returned Wen Xin’s call.
Her phone still wasn’t charged. Now she had changed into a shirt and walked out of the office and didn’t find her secretary, but she spotted a young trainee standing outside, playing a mobile game. She walked over and asked the child what his name was. The child looked up and saw Guo Xiaoli, as if he had encountered a teacher at school. He quickly hid the phone with the game behind his back. Guo Xiaoli smiled and asked to borrow the phone. The child hesitated but eventually handed it over, saying, “M-my name is Yu Xiaoyu.”
As Guo Xiaoli walked back to her office, she dialed Wen Xin’s phone number. She lowered her head and noticed that her high heels had been dirtied by Manager Li’s secretary. She was about to go change into another pair when she held the phone to her ear.
“Sorry, the number you have dialed is incorrect…”
Guo Xiaoli glanced at the phone screen and realized she had dialed the wrong number. She had misdialed a line, pressing 1 instead of 4, 7 instead of the asterisk symbol, and 9 instead of the pound sign.
Guo Xiaoli’s heart skipped a beat as she looked at the jumble of characters on the screen.
Wen Xin said over the phone that Dr. Cao had already come by, and Tang Zhen’s body had developed resistance to the previous medication. They needed to switch to something new. “Tang Zhen’s sister called a while ago and talked to him. He’s doing much better now. Guo-jie, you can focus on your own tasks. There’s no need for you to come over. Qi Lu and I will look after him.”
Guo Xiaoli responded with a “Hmm” and hung up the phone. She leaned against her desk, deep in thought.
The boy named Yu Xiaoyu was still waiting at the door for his phone.
Guo Xiaoli glanced at him and told him to wait a little longer.
The wardrobe opened, and Guo Xiaoli searched through the pockets of each coat but found nothing. She quickly opened her own filing cabinet, slamming the doors loudly. She pulled open every drawer in her office, searching through them all. She even emptied the trash bin.
Finally, among a pile of documents, she found the crumpled sticky note.
On it was a messy handwritten string of characters, with asterisks and pound signs, totaling eleven digits.
Guo Xiaoli’s hand holding the phone trembled slightly as she silently recited the numbers. She entered them one by one on her phone, replacing 4 with 1 and asterisks with 7.
After inputting all eleven digits, Guo Xiaoli stared at the phone screen, dumbfounded by the appearance of the phone number for a couple of seconds.
She recited it in her mind once more.
Fearing she might have read it wrong, she furrowed her brow, looked at the sticky note again, and double-checked the phone screen.
“Why make a phone call when he has decided to commit suicide?”
Guo Xiaoli’s eyes widened as she stared at the number, her hand trembling as she dialed it.
Ai Wentao drove and escorted Zhou Zike all the way to the backstage. Zhou Zike felt dizzy, with his vision flickering, making it difficult to see clearly. He could hear Xiao Yang laughing and asking the makeup artist to cover up the old scar at the corner of his mouth. He could hear Luo Cheng saying, “I brought you some hangover medicine, Zike. Here, take it.” He walked through the backstage corridor, passing numerous people, some excited, some curious, all glancing at him. It was Zhou Zike. Some people said that. Others wondered why Zhou Zike was here, questioning if there was any prior notice, and if he was a guest.
Luo Cheng explained along the way that he was not a guest; he was our captain, the host. He hadn’t had time to come before, so it was rare for him to visit occasionally. Everyone should take care of him.
Zhou Zike was momentarily blinded by the stage lights. He stepped onto the stage, closed his eyes for a moment. The screams from below were giving him a headache, a splitting headache. He felt nauseous in his stomach.
“Zike! Zike!”
Many people called out his name.
Zhou Zike opened his eyes, and for a moment, he didn’t feel like they were calling him.
Xiao Yang said, “Today, our captain is here. Are you all excited?”
Zhou Zike was in a dazed state, standing on the stage, not fully conscious. Xiao Yang was speaking beside him, Luo Cheng was speaking beside him, Yi Xuesong, Tao Rui, and so on, everyone was talking. Zhou Zike held the microphone, not knowing what he should say or why he was standing there. What was he supposed to do? When everyone was looking at him.
Countless faces in the audience looked up at him, their eyes filled with anticipation and longing. Zhou Zike was drunk, and every time he closed his eyes and opened them again, each face looked so similar that he couldn’t distinguish them.
Who was he speaking to?
Who was listening?
Why did he like this place?
Interviews, singing, transitioning between scenes—although Zhou Zike’s responses were slow and he struggled to cooperate, he managed to follow the team and complete everything. The first guest who visited today remarked, “Zike is so ‘well-behaved’.” The audience also echoed, saying, “Zike is so well-behaved today.”
Zhou Zike didn’t understand what they were saying, but Xiao Yang was laughing beside him, probably at some joke.
The director in the audience signaled Xiao Yang with his eyes, and Zhou Zike noticed. Zhou Zike saw them bypassing him and engaging in a mysterious exchange.
The guest named “Lulu” stepped forward to the stage, allowing members of KAIser to draw playing cards from her hand.
Zhou Zike stood still, bewildered, and suddenly everyone started screaming. He was the only one out of the loop, while Xiao Yang repeated it to him, saying that the guest just mentioned that Zike was holding a long-time crush in his heart.
Xiao Yang spoke with surprise and laughter, as if he didn’t understand whether it was genuine fortune-telling or if the guest was playing a big game, trying to create a dramatic effect with Zhou Zike.
Zhou Zike furrowed his brow. It was too noisy around him, and he had a headache. The guest next to him asked, “Is it accurate or not?”
Zhou Zike looked at her, not understanding why she was so excited.
“Well, then, you’re agreeing, right?” the guest said. She took out the second card Zhou Zike drew earlier, with the back facing up, and said, “This card can predict how hopeful your love affair is for success.”
Amidst the continuous screams, she asked Zhou Zike, “Do you want to see it?”
Zhou Zike stared at her, bewildered.
She flipped over the card and took a glance, bursting into laughter immediately.
“It’s really hard to draw a card with absolutely no hope like this one!” she exclaimed. As soon as she spoke, the audience erupted in screams and laughter. Only Zhou Zike, due to being slightly intoxicated, reacted a beat slower. He heard her say, “The only explanation is that you are fated to have no connection.”
The entire venue buzzed with excitement. Zhou Zike clearly heard her words, and his expression froze for a couple of seconds. Perhaps the effect was too good, as all the cameras focused on him. Another guest turned to the vast number of fans in the audience and said, “You can rest assured now, right? Zike is yours again.” Xiao Yang laughed heartily, nearly falling onto Yi Xuesong. Luo Cheng noticed that Zhou Zike’s expression wasn’t right and came over to pat his shoulder lightly.
Zhou Zike forced a smile, although he wasn’t sure if he should be laughing. His phone vibrated in his pocket, but he didn’t notice it.
The end of the first act “Idol.”
