653
Once the outdoor scenes were shot, the filming for this drama officially concluded.
Several zeroes were added to the back of my bank account balance.
Ahhhh, this is the feeling of getting rich overnight!
Now, I can finally puff up my chest proudly, and set a small target for myself—
Earn that 100 million yuan!
654
However, superstars have a tight schedule. As soon as we got off the plane, our agents sent us to the record company to record the title track for Pisces.
Although I was slightly tired, the thought of making money again instantly reinvigorated my soul.
Who knows, maybe by this time next year, I’ll be living in a big terrace house with a sea view.
Do your best, little Mo Shuyao, leggo!!
655
The song was named ‘Myriad Paths’. I glanced through the lyrics. Even though I didn’t recognise the composer, she really did quite well.
It’s immediately apparent that she’s someone who has read the novel.
How wonderful, it doesn’t betray the immortal love of my beloved sons.
656
The music producer even prepared two sets of scores for us.
Jiang Ran and I immediately reached for the copy with the stave.
Jiang Ran’s hand paused. “You can play musical instruments?”
“No, but I have vocal training.” With that, I plucked the copy with the stave from his hands. “And I definitely sing better than you.”
Hearing this, Jiang Ran chuckled.
The young lady also smiled, saying, “Teacher Mo is versatile, indeed. You really live up to your reputation.”
D’uh. After all, I was the most dazzling pup in the village, ofc I must be well-rounded in my moral, intellectual, physical, and social development.
That’s what my dad taught me in Hawaii!
It’s only a pity that he can’t see me bring honour to my ancestors now.
657
The producer instructed us to warm-up our voices.
I scratched my head with slight embarrassment. “About that, can I go one side to practise by myself?”
“Why?”
“Because my warm-up is more explosive.”
“Hm?” Jiang Ran and the young lady looked at me curiously.
I helplessly supplemented, “The roaring lioness type…”
Jiang Ran frowned. “That isn’t good for your throat, though?”
Psh. You haven’t seen laozi’s track record back in the day. If I really hurt my throat, would I have been able to rocket to fame with one song?
I held my head high. “This is the essential and particulars in the unity of opposites, do you understand?”
“Sophistry.” Jiang Ran gave me a sidelong look.
Har??
Forget it. Real men don’t bicker with men.
658
I slipped away to a corner, facing the wall as I roared at it, tentatively going up and down the scales.
When I returned, Jiang Ran’s gaze remained fixated on me from when I walked back in.
“What are you looking at?” I asked impatiently.
Jiang Ran smiled. “What lion roaring were you talking about, that’s clearly little kitty yowling.”
?? Jiang Ran, since when did you go astray?
Or, better put, now that we’re become familiar with each other, are you showing your true colours?
Believe it or not, I’m going to give you a thrashing!
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.
[evil dragon roar.jpg]
659
Coafg ojwliljglrlcu wsrfio klat atf wfibvs jcv atf isglmr, atf qgbvemfg ygbeuta er ab gfmbgv j vfwb klat atf yjmxlcu agjmx.
Aljcu Ejc rjcu olgra. Ktf alwygf bo tlr nblmf kjr ibkfg atjc wlcf; fctjcmfv ys atf wjucfalm reykbbofg cfza ab ws fjgr, la rbecvfv j tecvgfv alwfr wbgf wfrwfglrlcu atjc tlr cbgwji rqfjxlcu nblmf.
Accompanied by the melancholic backing track, I myself could barely hold up.
Once this song is released, Jiang Ran’s bastard fans would surely shout that they want to give birth to monkeys for him again.
That won’t do. I need to live up to my good name of being one of the top 10 singers on campus. How can I keep letting him overpower me like this?
660
My voice was in the higher vocal range. I kept my voice bottled up in the first section, but once reaching the section with high notes, I couldn’t resist releasing my nature.
“I was born like a mayfly to see the sea, the sun is rising and the clouds are parting;
You’re like a night mushroom who has never seen the dawn, holding my hand to daybreak;
You’re like a cicada who will never see the decade, tiding me through a thousand years…”
Mm, these lyrics are really well-written.
I was a little distracted. Glancing to the side, I happened to catch the silhouette of Jiang Ran’s profile.
He appeared serious, like the rolling snow-capped mountains, handsome and tinged with the coldness of frost.
All of a sudden, I recalled that icy day when Jiang Ran almost died in my arms, and my breathing caught for a few seconds.
Eep… I think I sang a wrong note.
661
After recording the demo, Jiang Ran took off his headphones to look at me. “Why? Is there something on your mind?”
I hurriedly shook my head, saying to myself, ‘What else could it be, isn’t it all you…’
…you who made me unable to tear my mind away.
662
The producer smiled. “The two of you have musical backgrounds, if we keep pressing on we should be able to finish the studio recording by tonight.”
Jiang Ran nodded, smiling.
The producer continued, “Teacher Mo seems somewhat distracted. When we officially start recording in a bit, you’ll have to look into each other’s eyes, so don’t let Jiang Ran eat you up.”
!!!
Young miss, can you please be careful with your wording? Don’t think that you can do whatever you want just because you’re pretty.
I glared at her viciously.
663
But I refused to believe it. I even got Jiang Ran to have a 10-second staredown with me to give it a try.
Jiang Ran seemed a little startled at first, only belatedly agreeing after a few seconds.
The producer smiled, saying, “Since you’re going to play at it anyway, why don’t you record the interview first, that’s on the agenda for today too.”
664
She quickly readied the equipment. “Since Teacher Mo intends to keep eye contact for ten seconds, let’s start this session first.”
“Sure.” I confidently locked eyes with him.
I would love to see just who will be the one doing the eating here.
This was actually the first time that I stared so intently at his eyes. I just noticed that he actually had hazel eyes.
‘Huh?’ I thought to myself, ‘He shouldn’t be some interracial kid from some country, right? The kind of heir with the heritage similar to the House of Habsburg, having ancestry from a king of the Roman empire, a king of Austria, Spanish royalty, and Portuguese aristocracy, right? The kind of rich bachelor that owns many charity establishments across the globe and private aircrafts, but whose heart only moves for one person, right??’
“Pfft…” I couldn’t hold back my laughter.
Jiang Ran frowned. “We haven’t even begun yet, what are you thinking about that’s so funny?”
I discreetly wiped my saliva. “My bad, let’s begin proper then.”
665
Heh, isn’t it just ten seconds? Piece of cake, even twenty seconds wouldn’t be an issue.
I inclined my head slightly to gaze into his eyes.
Jiang Ran was very quiet. His gaze calmly focused on me.
Like a ravine stream, slowly flowing.
There were even flecks of light that sparkled at me from time to time.
Geez, why is this damn guy oozing charisma all over.
I silently counted in my head, almost forgetting to breathe.
7, 8, 9…
666
At the end of the ten seconds, I held my frantically beating heart. My brain had crashed completely.
The producer smiled. “Teacher Mo, are you the type to flush easily?”
I touched my face. What the heck, why was it so hot!
Jiang Ran told the producer, “Turn off the camera, don’t broadcast this section.”
Then, he leaned in close and blew softly in my ear. “Teacher Mo keeps blushing, how should I interpret that?”
!!! My soul shook.
I was completely exposed before him.
How embarrassing, with laozi’s thick skin, how can my face always flush so easily?
I grabbed a pillow and tossed it at him.
Yet Jiang Ran’s laughter only grew.
667
However, we didn’t have to maintain eye contact for too long during the song recording. By luck, I managed to get through it with my adorkableness.
As we left, the music producer was very excited, “You guys sing so well and look at each other with such deep emotion. The fans will go crazy for sure when the MV comes out.”
Jiang Ran even nodded his head in agreement.
Huh.
669
It was already late in the night by the time we got in the car back to our respective places.
Speaking of heading home, I remembered that I hadn’t paid the rent at the start of the year.
Now that I’ve money, I must quickly clear my debts!
I called my landlord.
To my surprise, she sounded hesitant. “Ah, Shuyao. I heard that you became an actor, I’m sure you would no longer want this lousy apartment. My son is about to get married. I’m thinking of renovating the house to give it to him, and it also happens that you haven’t submitted the rent for this year…”
Wha? She isn’t going to rent it anymore?
Then does she expect laozi to fill my stomach with the northwestern winds out in the wild?
Is this what they mean by human suffering on earth??
670
I was dejected when I hung up.
“What’s wrong?” Jiang Ran moved closer.
I raised my head, melancholically gazing up at the sky, “My lease has expired…”
“But it’s fine!” The next second, I proudly puffed up my chest. “I have money now, I’ll immediately buy myself a seaside villa!”
“About that,” Jiang Ran heartlessly doused me in a bucket of cold water. “Based on your wages from this drama, even a villa in Beijing would be a little difficult to afford.”
“Har?”
He continued to say, “My father is in real estate. I know the market better than you.”
I glared at him.
[lost dreams.jpg]
“However,” Jiang Ran paused, “If you need it now I can give you something.”
He isn’t intending to give me an entire villa right? Holy shit aren’t you too generous? How can I accept it? After all there is no free meal in the world…
Pur-lease!
He who hesitates is lost!
671
My gaze instantly sharpened.
He leaned over. “Since I’ll be bringing you to stay in a villa in Germany at a later date, why don’t you move in first to acclimatise…”
“Alrighty!”
In the split second that I cut into his words, Jiang Ran calmly finished the second part of his sentence, “…acclimatise to cohabitation.”
Har??
What the hell?
I instantly turned into stone. Jiang Ran’s eyes lit up with joy. “Does this mean you agree?!”
I…
Agree with you, my ass!
Jiang Ran, will it kill you to finish your words in one breath?
With such short lung capacity, no wonder you had altitude sickness.
You definitely deserved it.
672
However, Jiang Ran had already started to instruct, “Brother Rong, send us straight back to my place. Teacher Mo will be living with me for a few days.”
I wanted to cry but no tears came. If I could, I really wanted to hammer in his head. “Who said that I agreed!”
Jiang Ran frowned. “It’s not good to go back on your word.”
His agent was also very excited. “Yeah, we all heard you. Teacher Mo, isn’t it great that our President Jiang is giving hundreds of square metres of his house to you free of charge?”
Wuwuwu, alas… ;o;
I’m moved. I’m so moved that I’m about to shed tears.
Jiang Ran continued to rub salt in, “What’s there to be embarrassed about, we’ve been staying together since filming for the drama started.”
This time, I really fr;o;ze up.
This was a real-life example of a lamb entering a tiger’s den!
673
But somehow, inexplicably, I was actually…
Looking forward to it a little.
Nevermind. Anyway, it’s just temporarily staying there for a few days.
He was quite honorable when we stayed together in the past. Now, it would be a waste to turn it down.
After all, once I’ve earned enough, I’m hightailing my way right out of there!
674
But when the car drove up to his house, I had completely fallen into enemy hands.
Jiang Ran’s house, a three-and-a-half storey luxury mansion in the outer ring of Beijing, was a hundred times more gorgeous than that presidential suite.
Most importantly, it was a residential house. The decor was warm and relaxed.
It felt like I had leapt back in time to my childhood, back when my family still had money.
Jiang Ran passed a pair of slippers to me. “You don’t have to hold back. There are several empty rooms on the first and second floors. You can take your pick.”
My heart thundered.
“Where are your parents?”
Jiang Ran smiled. “What’s the hurry? Presently, I’m living here alone.”
Sigh. Rich people can just do as they like.
Sorry, I’ve sunk into corruption.
674
I once dreamed of roaming to the ends of the earth with my sword and seeing the resplendence of the world, but never did I expect that I would end up living in Jiang Ran’s house.
But! The feeling of living in a mansion is really cool~
I happily flipped over in bed.
Good fucking grief, I accidentally rammed my cranky old waist again…
[Not-so-quick refresher: salted fish flips over]
I seriously love this book! Please keep up the good work.
Thanks for the chapter <3
It took me a couple of chapters to get into this novel. Glad I stayed. The comedic voice and unexpected pathos grabbed me hard, and has kept me on the alert for new chapters. Thanks for translating this really entertaining book so wonderfully well. (Also, thanks for the deft hand with THE LAWYER.) (You work hard.)
He always blames Jiang Ran for not finishing his sentences in one breath, but he’s always the one who’s too impatient! 😂
Jiang Ran, will it kill you to finish your words in one breath?
With such short lung capacity, no wonder you had altitude sickness.
XD
thanks for the chapter ♡
Thank you for the chapter 🤍
Y’know, I don’t seem to remember Mo Shuyao ever actually agreeing to go to Germany with Jiang Ran. Preeeetty sure Jiang Ran just started talking about it like it was a done deal lol.
By the way, thanks for the translation! I really appreciate that you find pictures for all of the jpg references! Usually I have to just imagine them because nothing shows up when I search “original meme title translated into English.jpg.”
listen, I saw Shaolin Soccer when it came out on HK DVD in 01. And never in the entirety of my existence did i realise that the salted fish memery was from Shaolin Soccer. 😭 now it’s all i’m going to be able to think about for this weekend. baking a cake, “salted fish is old enough to buy adult beverages in the US”. running errands, “salted fish is as old as your middle school trauma.” salted fish is old fish 🫡
being compared to the house of Habsburg is not something one would be proud of tbh