As the Minor Gay Love Rival in Het NovelsChapter 2.2

After finishing filming that day’s guest segment, Fan Yuan diligently acted the part of chauffeur and went to drop Fang Xu off at home. Heaven only knows why this manager is only paid one salary when he  has so many jobs.

Fan Yuan stopped the car when they came to a red light at an intersection and looked out the window. It was already dusk and the sky was full of red clouds. The eastern clouds were painted with a gorgeous golden color. He didn’t know why, but it suddenly brought to mind the time when Gu Qi drove him home in the previous world. G6ZH3A

Unlike Fang Xu’s sophistication and steadiness that no one could see nor break through, Gu Qi, although seemingly mature and experienced, still had a purity to him that had not yet been tainted. If one were to look carefully, they could still read the emotions in his eyes.

“It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter even if I’m disappointed. As long as you are you, I’ll just… keep loving you.”

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The moment when Gu Qi said those words, his clear, smooth young voice deepened and instantly turned husky.

Reflecting back on it now, that was first sign that something was wrong with the male lead, but Fan Yuan’s reaction was too slow. He didn’t immediately correct it and as a result, the more the plot advanced, the more intense things became. In the end, they progressed past the point of no return. When Xiao Wu said that he was the responsible party, it really had spoken the truth. UTKi5

He also didn’t know what happened to Gu Qi after he left, didn’t know if he blamed himself or if he was depressed for a long time. But regardless of how sad Gu Qi felt, he would eventually get over it one day. After all, he was so young and had all the luck in the world. He would surely be able to succeed in business. Things would surely go smoothly for him.

Fang Xu, who was dozing in the passenger seat, suddenly spoke: “Tang Yuan, the light’s already turned green.”

Fan Yuan’s musings were abruptly cut off as he focused back in to hear the cacophony of beeps coming from behind their car. He hurriedly accelerated forward.

Fang Xu opened his eyes and tilted his head. His languid voice was  sleepy but his eyes were exceptionally bright. “What were you thinking about?”

Q6 DXl

Fan Yuan sucked in a quiet breath, not knowing why he felt guilty all of a sudden. He didn’t bat an eyelash as he said, “I was just thinking about how unusual you acted today, thinking about why you would help an unfamiliar woman.”

The corners of Fang Xu’s lips tilted up as he lazily replied, “What’s there to think about? Can’t I be nice once in a while? Besides, that young woman was pretty interesting.”

Fan Yuan wanted to press him for more information and continue to ask about his feelings towards the female lead, but Fang Xu closed his eyes, looking for all the world  as if he didn’t want to chat with him anymore.

“Xiao Wu, do you think the male lead looks like he’s been moved by the female lead? Why do I feel like it doesn’t seem that way.” DyGoiU

“Ding. This can still be considered a normal situation. In the original work, the male lead didn’t become interested in the female lead right from the start. He gradually became attracted to the female lead over the course of their interactions. Today is their first meeting. There’s still a lot of plot to develop. Master, please don’t slack off. Keep working hard.”

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.

Fan Yuan nodded his head over and over. In a voice laden with self-confidence, he said, “Relax. I definitely won’t let you down.”

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That’s right! He not only moonlighted as a personal assistant and chauffeur, but as a housekeeper as well. 8qvCiF

On more than one occasion, Fan Yuan had seriously doubted whether the original host had masochistic tendencies. Indeed, the male lead was a superstar who radiated a glorious halo on the outside, but not only was he incredibly incompetent in his private life, he was also extremely fussy and nitpicky. Who else but a masochist could ever fall in love with such a man?

Every time he used a thermos to drink water, he would need to wash it seven or eight times. The male lead’s mother had definitely never told him when he was little that a little dirt never hurt! And as for fruit platters, if the color of the fruit wasn’t good, he wouldn’t eat it. If the shape wasn’t good, he wouldn’t eat it. If his mood wasn’t good, he wouldn’t eat it. He was even worse than a spoiled child!

Could it be that the original host had only taken a shine to his looks…… That’s why they say unnatural fixation with beauty needs to be treated!

Fan Yuan roasted him in his heart for a good while. His entire body felt light and free of any troubles while his mood was clear and pleasant. But it was no f*cking use. He had to go wash vegetables, cook for the male lead, and then clean his room while he was at it. Additionally, he had to behave as if he was perfectly happy to do these things and as if he took pleasure in doing them. g1iwWR

Fine. Seeing as how the male lead was obediently moving along the plot, he will continue to endure!

**********

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After finishing dinner, Fan Yuan rolled up his sleeves and tidied the dishes while the male lead-daren leisurely lounged on the couch, eating fruit and watching the news on TV.

Fan Yuan couldn’t help but heave a sigh. As expected, different people have different fates. Just then, a seed of delusion from the previous world sprouted and took root once again. FY6d9v

He thought for a little bit and suddenly earnestly said, “Xiao Wu, I still want to go for it and set my goal to be a senior law enforcement consultant. I’ll keep striving toward it!”

Xiao Wu did not answer him. Fan Yuan didn’t repeat himself either and conscientiously starting doing housework.

After he more-or-less finished cleaning up, he walked out of the kitchen and immediately spotted a feature story on Tan Ling on the TV screen.

This was a follow-up story on today’s episode of “1, 2, 3! Look to the Stars!” Because of the abnormal behavior of the male lead Fang Xu, the lively little Z-list actress Tan Ling began to enter the public consciousness. NlBpgS

Too bad that this was not a particularly auspicious beginning. Netizens held differing opinions on why only her clothing had a problem out of over ten dancers in the program’s opening dance number and why the God of Cinema Fang Xu would go out of his way to help an unknown little artist.

Many netizens were unafraid to speculate maliciously about artists and performers. They were accustomed to attributing all accidents to sinisterly concocted conspiracies. Various conspiracy theories proliferated and bred like flies in innumerable succession.

Of course, there were also some normal people who saw no reason to clutch onto a young woman in her early twenties, but many people had already lost their reason and were hurling abuse until their eyes turned red. This was especially true for the Great God Fang Xu’s crazy fangirls. They felt that their godlike idol had been desecrated by that woman, so she must be driven out of the entertainment scene.

The female lead was a complete and utter victim, but was instead smeared as a scheming b*tch. Her company already planned to put her on ice. J IO5t

Watching this unfold, Fan Yuan pushed up his glasses. Revealing an incomprehensible and enigmatic smile, he silently left the male lead’s home.

When he reached the first floor, he was unable to hold back the joy in his heart and happily exclaimed, “Seeing the female lead vilified so miserably, I can finally relax now!”

Xiao Wu: “……”

“The next time the male and female lead meet is next week. For now, there’s no need to advance the plot. We can take a break and relax.” CAp67w

“Ding. Although there’s no need to further the plot, can Master please not roam around aimlessly? Master mustn’t meet the male and female side characters, the female lead, and other characters or else you’ll have to shoulder the plot-related consequences of your actions.

“……Okay.” Was he really so unreliable? _(:з」∠)_

***********

One week later. tF2OSB

Fan Yuan rose first thing in the morning to buy the breakfast that His Highness, the male lead-daren, imperiously demanded and drove over to his apartment building to wait for him. God only knows what kind of craziness came over Fang Xu to go  so far as to make his impeccably attired, suit-and-tie-wearing neat-freak agent go line up at a food stall to buy him breakfast. It was so inhumane! So tragic and brutal! So shameless!

After waiting for about ten or so minutes, the really, really, really, ridiculously good looking male lead-daren leisurely got into the car. Fan Yuan handed over the soy milk and youtiao that he had spent all morning running around buying. Fang Yu spared him a single, slightly disgusted glance and leaned back in his seat, frowning. He said, “Forget it, I don’t feel like eating it anymore. Remember to buy me another portion next time.”

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Fan Yuan: “…………” Don’t think that just because you’re handsome you can get away with being so unreasonable!

#The male lead-daren is poisonousssss, my heart is so tired Orz# dClsHi

Even as the Emperor of the Silver Screen, Fang Xu hardly filmed any dramas and the number of movies he starred in was similarly small. He had only acted in around ten movies since he came onto the scene seven years ago, yet he had won awards and smashed box office sales for each one. That guy was really picky. He wouldn’t film movies he didn’t like. He wouldn’t film with directors he didn’t like. He wouldn’t film with producers he didn’t like. In short, he was all kinds of fussy.

His management company treated him as if he were a god to whom they gave offerings and made sacrifices. Of course, they tried their very best to satisfy his requirements and gave him good screenplays from which to choose. This time, he chose a wartime spy film called “Hidden Edge” and made an appointment today to sign a contract with Tian Xing Pictures.

Because the problem of the male lead’s breakfast had wasted a lot of time, the agreed upon meeting time with the producer and director was almost upon them. In the end, they managed to hurry to Tian Xing Pictures, Inc. The entrance was completely blocked and many people were screaming a name and waving signs. There were also a lot of entertainment reporters chasing interviews. Presumably some popular idol had appeared in the area.

Fang Xu usually took Tang Yuan’s car when he went out to work to avoid being encircled and trapped by his fans. He never thought the day would come when he would be walled in by another’s fans. He was somewhat impatient and had a cold expression on his face as he said, “Go see who it is.” TMGwbW

Fan Yuan rogered that and was about to go out to see when he saw a man and a woman squeeze out from the crowd. From a glance, he saw that it was the male love rival Min Zihang and the female lead Tan Ling. From the looks of things, it seemed that they were currently following the plot.

Fang Xu narrowed his eyes, the corner of his mouth curving down: “I was wondering who it was. Turns out it was Min Zihang.”

Min Zihang was a pop superstar who enjoyed popularity all over Asia these past two years. His looks were a 10 out of 10, he had the voice of an angel, and he was also proficient in many different types of music. He was a man of many talents—he simply overflowed with them. He quickly gained a following amongst young people. At present, he already had his own record label.

Tan Ling and he had been raised in the same orphanage. Their relationship was once very good, but Min Zihang was later located and taken in by relatives. Tan Ling was able to get to where she was today based on her own hard work. The two had once called each other brother and sister, but nowadays one had ascended to heaven while the other crawled in the dirt. The past few days, the incident with Tan Ling had set the web abuzz. It was then that Min Zihang finally recalled that little girl who had followed behind him, calling him gege. For a moment, he was thoroughly and deeply moved, making a firm resolution to lend her a hand. Czrdkh

He had come to Tian Xing Pictures today to help Tan Ling break her contract and to help her pay the associated penalty fee.

He now faced the pack of reporters and the jostling pack of fans. In a powerful and resonant voice he declared, “Tan Ling is my meimei. Everyone, please treat her well from now on and don’t make things too difficult for her.”

Having said his piece, he brought her over to his car and they drove off in a puff of dust.

Fan Yuan watched this scene with shining eyes, an otherwise impassive expression on his face. This time’s male lead was just too awesome! It seems that this mission will be suitably completed with a HE! dae07R

“Ding……”

#My Master is always planting flags#

Translator's Note

Raws use a loanword from Japanese that means “face-con” (“face complex” 顏控 – yán kòng).

Translator's Note

Again, written in English.

Translator's Note

Literally, “was made to put on the hat of a scheming b*tch” (冠上了心机女表的帽子 – guānshàng.le xīnjī nǚbiǎo.de màozǐ ).

Translator's Note

This was a difficult sentence to translate. Basically, the raws use a word that means “compiled and published by Imperial command” or “inspected and evaluated by the Emperor himself” (钦定 – qīn dìng)to describe the breakfast ordered by the male lead. The language implies that the male lead is arrogant, exacting, and overbearing, acting like an emperor commanding his subjects for something as unimportant as buying breakfast.

Translator's Note

Sigh. This was another phrase difficult to translate. The Chinese expression basically means “so handsome he exploded the sky”(???) (帥炸天際 – shuài zhà tiān jì). Sounds super dumb in English, but that’s what it approximates out to (I think. If that’s not it, please correct me in the comments). As a non-native speaker, this phrasing doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me, but it’s just getting at the fact that the male lead is a smokin’ hot, super bangable hunk. I used a quote from Zoolander to try and match the comedic phrasing.

Translator's Note

Chinese fried dough strip (油條 – yóu tiáo) generally eaten at breakfast. It’s more savory than sweet.
Looks like this:
油條

Translator's Note

Verrrrrrrrry liberal translation. Original title is 《暗芒》。

Translator's Note

天(tian – tiān)= day, sky, heaven. 星(xing – xīng)= star, heavenly body.

Translator's Note

Literally, the entrance was blocked so tightly not even a drop of water could trickle through(堵得水泄不通 – dǔ.de shuǐ xiè bù tōng).

Translator's Note

“He had a super high score on the attractiveness index” (拥有超高的颜值 – yōngyǒu chāo gāo .de yán zhí).

Translator's Note

Again, very liberal translation. “One heaven (and) one earth”(一個天一個地 – yì.ge tiān yí.ge dì): used to describe the extremely large gulf between their current positions.

Leave a Comment

23 comments

  1. –Fan Yuan watched this scene with shining eyes, an otherwise impassive expression on his face. This time’s male lead was just too awesome!

    Eh, the Male Lead is Fang Xu right? Not Min Zihang? I’m afraid I got mixed up when reading the last chapter. Thanks for the translation..

    • The male lead is Fang Xu. But Fan Yuan attributed every successful plot point as Fang Xu’s because last time Fang Xu derailed so badly that other side character followed his lead just as badly. Thus, “this time’s male lead was just too awesome”.

  2. Thank you for the chapter today! I realized that this author’s writing style is my type. The moment I read the first sentence I remembered the whole plot, even after not reading for a while 😀

  3. This Fan Yuan is a slave in this life… That idol is just too much.

    Thanks for the chapter!

  4. Flag flag flag flag flag XD thanks for the chapter! The system is always worried about it’s host planting flags, when the flags has been planted since who knows when _(:3//)

  5. lol Fang Xu, stop abussing ur manager

  6. Male lead secretly dripping with vinegar 😂

  7. Ahhh! It’s not Fan Yuan’s fault his optimistic attiude is a magnet for flags. The other actor is at fault too! What vacation?! You’re painting Fan Yuan’s reputation black! And poor system is probably dragged down with Fan Yuan. Don’t give up hope, Fan Yuan!

  8. Wonder who’s the mysterious ML in this world, I hope it’s not that Fang Xu since he’s annoying and treats our family’s Fan Yuan like a slave.

  9. I’m lost. I dont get it. Isnt the plot moving accordingly? How did he plant a flag???

    • Xiao Wu basically is saying to not be too optimistic or else he’ll jinx himself (bcs of the last world. Xiao Wu doesn’t want that to happen again. He’s already jinxing himself tho (:з」∠))

  10. honestly, i cant see his real goal in the missions. what should he do or what should his main goal in the entire plot of the story?. its not that he should change it or anything. the way i see it, he just have to follow the original host‘s plot,with bad ending.

  11. Fan Yuan will attract both men again 😂😂.. the power of attraction is so high though ofcourse our main lead always follow him wherever the world he goes

  12. I am loving the translation, and the Zoolander quote was chef’s kiss, hahaha!!! Surprised by Fan Yuan’s musings on Gu Qi at the beginning there, he seemed a bit nostalgic. I can’t tell where the Gu Qi character is this time around, & it’s making me antsy…