The news from the Jinna Film Festival quickly reached the United States.
In a Chinese restaurant on the streets of San Francisco, the owner, a film enthusiast, had the television screen on the wall continuously playing footage of Chu Yunsheng and Yin Zheng receiving their awards.
More Chinese patrons frequented the restaurant, and seeing their country’s film receive such an honor, even those who didn’t follow the entertainment industry showed expressions of pride. They discussed the two actors and the film on the television in Chinese while eating.
“When will Azure Sky Murder be released in North America? It’s been half a year already!”
“Hey, don’t be so anxious. I saw online that it should be in April, which is soon! If you’re really impatient, I have a copy, but remember, watching a copy is one thing, you still need to contribute double to the box office when it comes out…”
“No, I won’t watch it. I’ll wait for the cinema release. My friends back home said many people watched it twice. When it comes out here, we’ll grab tickets for two consecutive showings… If it weren’t so far to go back to China, I’d really want to go back and watch it…”
The discussion from the neighboring table drifted over.
A cold and handsome man in a casual suit paused with his chopsticks mid-air, suddenly finding the food in his mouth tasteless.
He glanced at the television screen, where the elegant and composed Chu Yunsheng was being shown, then slung his backpack over his shoulder, paid the bill, and left.
This man was Zhou Ziyan.
Life abroad was completely different from what he had imagined.
Because he insisted on taking Tao An and the child with him, he had a huge argument with his mother, who then cut off his financial support abroad. She only sent him a monthly living allowance and provided him with a high-end apartment, as well as helped him get into a prestigious finance university.
By all accounts, these conditions were actually quite good. However, Zhou Ziyan had brought Tao An with him, and Tao An wanted to break into the Western entertainment industry, while Zhou Ziyan wanted to make a comeback, establish a company, and return to China to defeat Chu Yunsheng.
To accomplish these two goals, the money they had was naturally insufficient.
However, Zhou Ziyan, the former young CEO, wasn’t completely blinded by his infatuation with Tao An and wasn’t entirely without skills.
He first contacted some friends abroad, but these friends had all been warned by his mother and had seen the decline of the Zhou family. None of them extended a helping hand.
Zhou Ziyan didn’t insist and instead lowered his expectations, hoping his friends could at least help introduce Tao An into the industry.
By lowering his stance, Zhou Ziyan managed to get a few friends to help out, out of old friendships. However, although Tao An had decent acting skills, he was overly ambitious and only auditioned for major productions. Those big productions, however, found his skills mediocre and stagnant, so it was no surprise that he was rejected from all those auditions.
Tao An didn’t think it was a problem with his acting skills. He attributed it to discrimination, lack of bribes, and corruption, and wanted Zhou Ziyan to find more connections. But Zhou Ziyan, now without money and connections, couldn’t provide what Tao An wanted. In the end, Zhou Ziyan had no choice but to place him in a small production, reassuring him to start from the beginning.
Zhou Ziyan didn’t know what Tao An thought about this.
From his perspective, he had already arranged things for Tao An.
Next, Zhou Ziyan used part of the money to hire a nanny to take care of the child. The remaining funds were all invested in his newly formed team.
He had completed both his undergraduate and master’s degrees abroad, so he was very familiar with the workings of foreign universities. Using a short amount of time, he gathered a group of like-minded young people willing to work hard together, including a few talented technicians with great potential.
The team gradually grew and transformed into a studio.
Although Zhou Ziyan was extremely busy and tired every day, the thought of his triumphant return to China kept him going.
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.
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Tao An could cook, but he was often busy with the film crew. When he occasionally came home, he would collapse into bed without even having time to look at the child.
Everything was developing arduously but steadily, and Zhou Ziyan felt that victory might be just around the corner.
But all these illusions were shattered that evening.
On his way home, Zhou Ziyan saw a luxury car parked at the entrance of an alley not far from his apartment. There was quite a commotion coming from the car, and the window was open, clearly indicating some illicit activity.
Zhou Ziyan was used to such scenes and was about to leave after a quick glance when he suddenly noticed a hand pressed against the car window in a moment of passion.
The hand wore a diamond ring, and there was a red mole in the center of the palm. Zhou Ziyan remembered that whenever he kissed that mole, Tao An would look at him with eyes full of emotion.
Tao An… Tao An!
The veins on Zhou Ziyan’s forehead immediately bulged.
He took a deep breath for a long time, carefully noting the license plate number of the luxury car in the dim light, and then turned away from the alley.
After making some inquiries, he confirmed that the car belonged to a promiscuous second-generation rich kid.
Zhou Ziyan did not go home but instead headed to a bar.
He sat in the bar, continuously pouring alcohol into himself.
The anger and pain in his eyes slowly settled into a harsh gloom under the influence of the alcohol.
He thought about his first meeting with Tao An, the anxiety and uncertainty of pursuing him, the shock and joy of learning about Tao An’s pregnancy, and Tao An’s shy kisses and body.
He had become like this because of Tao An…
If it weren’t for Tao An, why would he have bothered to target Yin Zheng and Chu Yunsheng? He had done so much for Tao An, and now, Tao An was going to abandon him, lie in someone else’s bed, and have someone else’s child?
Zhou Ziyan’s eyes reddened, and he let out a couple of cold, hoarse laughs.
He looked at the group of young people in the corner, frantically dancing around a pile of white powder, and finally, with a heart full of malice, he took out his phone and dialed a number: “Old Xin, do you still have those things? Bring more…”
Chu Yunsheng never expected that the next time he would hear about Zhou Ziyan and Tao An, it would be on the legal news.
“Recently, the former president of the Zhou Group, Mr. Zhou, has been successfully extradited back to China by the U.S. authorities. It has been confirmed that Mr. Zhou had close ties with the Golden Triangle over the past six months and was involved in drug trafficking, possession, and inciting others to use drugs, among other criminal activities. The nature of these crimes is extremely serious…”
In the news footage, the faces of Zhou Ziyan and another frail man beside him were pixelated, but Chu Yunsheng recognized at a glance that the other person was Tao An.
It wasn’t long before news spread that the former popular artist Tao An had been admitted to a drug rehabilitation center.
Chu Yunsheng was somewhat surprised by this.
Although he had a hand in cutting off Zhou Ziyan’s financial support from Mother Zhou, he truly hadn’t anticipated that the two would end up with such a fate.
This saved him the trouble of taking further action.
The incident of Zhou Ziyan trying to feed drugs to Yin Zheng in Paris was unlikely to have been an accident. Chu Yunsheng had considered investigating Zhou Ziyan’s previous company and reporting it, making a modest contribution to the country’s drug prohibition efforts. However, he didn’t expect that before he could report him, Zhou Ziyan would end up incriminating himself.
Chu Yunsheng later learned the full story: Tao An had an affair, and Zhou Ziyan tolerated it, adding something to Tao An’s food. By the time Tao An realized it, it was too late. He couldn’t quit with his sheer willpower, and Zhou Ziyan, due to his frequent dealings with the Golden Triangle, became deeply entangled as well.
“I advised Tao An not to get involved with Zhou Ziyan.”
Yin Zheng stared at the news for a while before suddenly speaking.
He didn’t seem too surprised. Seeing Chu Yunsheng looking over, he frowned and said, “Before that press conference where I completely fell out with Tao An, I would occasionally visit him. I felt he was different from before, but I couldn’t pinpoint what was different.”
“When I went to see him, I once saw him interacting with Zhou Ziyan. At that time, I didn’t know what had happened between them, but their relationship and the atmosphere were unusual. When Zhou Ziyan looked at Tao An, his gaze was less about deep love and more about a destructive possessiveness and control.”
“That kind of feeling is very unpleasant. True love shouldn’t consist of just those two things.”
Yin Zheng’s words made Chu Yunsheng thoughtful.
He knew the original plot.
In the original story, without the variable of Chu Yunsheng, Zhou Ziyan and Tao An had smooth sailing.
After Yin Zheng was imprisoned, the plot mentioned that in the following days, several celebrities were exposed for drug use. At the time, Chu Yunsheng didn’t think much of it, but now, recalling carefully, those celebrities who entered rehab had their previously rumored big IP dramas almost all end up in Tao An’s hands.
Does the so-called rise of a superstar, the happy life of princes, have to be achieved by stepping on the blood of the innocent?
But all of this had nothing to do with them anymore.
After the Jinna Film Festival, Yin Zheng shut down his Weibo account and devoted himself entirely to his acting career. He was no longer swayed by external opinions or chasing after fans and popularity.
He was low-key, diligent, and exceptionally talented, becoming a model worker in the entertainment industry and earning the favor of many renowned directors. Initially, the Little Cherries, who had cried and wailed when Yin Zheng announced his transformation and closed his Weibo, gradually stopped complaining when they saw his annual output of at least three high-quality films.
Yin Zheng acted in movies, television dramas, and occasionally performed in stage plays. During a two-year period when he felt he had reached a bottleneck in his acting skills, he declined all film offers and went abroad for further studies.
Afterward, he began to appear in various international films.
At the age of thirty-seven, Yin Zheng won a genuine Oscar for an outstanding art film that explored human nature.
That year marked the pinnacle of his life.
China officially passed the same-sex marriage law.
On the day the news was released, Chu Yunsheng posted two marriage certificates and a wedding photo on his Weibo.
In the photo, the slightly taller man was already in his forties, but time seemed to favor him, leaving few marks on his face. The cold sharpness of his youth had been tempered by time into a more mature and charming demeanor. He wore a meticulously tailored white suit, standing tall and straight, his deep black eyes slightly lowered, gazing at Yin Zheng, who was held in his embrace.
Yin Zheng’s suit had a casual style. His jacket was draped casually over his arm, and his shirt collar was loose.
He lifted his head slightly, and his clear eyes, which had never changed with the passage of time, shone like stars, looking at the man before him with deep affection and devotion.
This photo would later be frequently shared when introducing China’s most outstanding contemporary scientists, and the name of the photo was simply “Love.”
The release of the marriage certificate sent the entire internet into an uproar.
Countless fans of the couple celebrated their grand carnival day.
Echoing fans and the Little Cherries hidden among them sent their congratulations with tears: “I knew it! You two are real!”
“Grandma, grandma, wake up! Chu and Yin have gone public!”
“I had actually come to terms with the fact that they might never officially come out, but this is an unexpected joy! I’m going to run a hundred laps around my neighborhood!”
“Dr. Chu’s achievements are getting higher and higher. I was worried that Old Chu might look down on our Zheng Zheng in the future… but now, I realize I misjudged you, Old Chu. Old Chu is truly the best husband of the century. From now on, I’ll only buy household electronics from Yunsheng Technology!”
“Wait… is anyone else here who shipped the reverse CP like me…”
“Sister above, me too…”
“It’s all because of Yuan Qing and Du Mingyao! I’m crying my eyes out!”
Most of the fans from back then had already settled down and become uncles and aunts in other people’s eyes, but their cheers and joy at this moment seemed to transcend the long decade, merging with their youthful selves.
“Hey, Old Chu, when are you and Yin Zheng going to hold the wedding?”
Zhang Feifan’s loud voice came through the phone: “I’m getting older, you know, and my wife doesn’t let me drink casually anymore. But your wedding is different; it’s a great day, so we have to have a couple of drinks, right? By the way, what’s the minimum amount for the wedding gift… You know, I’m an actor, I’m poor…”
Chu Yunsheng directly hung up on this poor guy.
After thinking for a moment, he looked at Yin Zheng beside him: “When do you want to hold the wedding?”
Yin Zheng, resting on his lap, shook his head and said, “Let’s not have a wedding. Let’s go on a honeymoon trip instead. The world is so big, it would be a shame not to explore it.”
As he spoke, he turned over and climbed on top of Chu Yunsheng, enthusiastically suggesting: “I can book a castle in Europe, and we can play vampires. You can be a medieval vampire noble, and I’ll be the poor human you imprison… I also want to do it somewhere with a view of the Aegean Sea, with the sunlight streaming down; it would be so enjoyable… If we don’t do it now, we won’t be able to when we’re older. We need to seize the moment…”
Chu Yunsheng looked at the excited Yin Zheng and deeply understood the meaning of the phrase “like a wolf at thirty, like a tiger at forty.”
So, was it too late for him to switch his research to developing a new type of medication without side effects?
The author has something to say: The update for tomorrow will be on the 29th at 00:01.
The next world is a sci-fi ABO setting, featuring a pampered young master who pretends to be an omega but is wilder than one, seducing a cool and aloof senior alpha, hehe~
Yay~! A happy end for Chu-ge and Zhengzheng, the deserved end for surnamed Zhou and surnamed Tao!
Thank you for the chapter!
Was it finished… Aww that was so short. I hope theere will be vampire x human arc🥴🤭
Zhang Feifan is that one friend you cannot stand but still love to death and miss like crazy when their broke a** hasn’t harassed you for food for a week
Wait wait wait Im not ready—