T/N: Double update! Thank you to all of Psychic’s readers 🙂
The ratings of “The World of Strange People” exploded, with more and more people curious about Fan Jialuo. Of course, the people who suspected him were eager to find his flaws. Song Wennuan struck while the iron was hot and informed everyone to report to the TV station, as she had planned the shooting content for the fifth and sixth episodes.
This time, the shooting was quite long. From 9:30 in the morning to 8:30 in the evening, they shoot two episodes consecutively. This was because it was decided to discard the previous “Ziwei Palace” episode after much deliberation, so as not to cause damage to the ancient architectural complex. Curiosity driven audience members could do anything, and Ziwei Palace was currently under restoration, so security measures would definitely be lacking.
Fan Jialuo understood, and after dropping off Xu Yiyang in the morning, he drove to the TV station. He walked in the dim underground parking lot without deploying a magnetic field or disguising himself. The security measures here were very tight, and there were usually no fans who suddenly jumped out of a corner.
However, there was an accident today. A hoarse voice came from behind him, with an anxious and helpless tone, “May I ask if you’re Teacher Fan Jialuo?”
Fan Jialuo turned around and answered, “That’s me.” His sharp eyes locked onto the man, his gaze sweeping across the other party’s gaunt face to his clothes and body, only to jerk back and stare at his facial features for a moment.
The other man’s lips trembled slightly, and he seemed to be nervous, but he stood stiffly without moving. He felt like a transparent man, unable to hide before the eyes of the young man. The fact that the young man seemed to see him through was a very uncomfortable experience for others, but it caused the man’s despairing heart a rush of eager expectation.
His eyes widened, and he looked at the young man, as if he had a thousand words to say, but didn’t know how to word them. While he racked his brain, Fan Jialuo beckoned and said, “You can come in with me.”
“What?” The man was stunned.
“Come in with me first, I’m almost late.” Fan Jialuo pointed to his watch.
“Oh, okay!” The man immediately followed his lead without asking a single question. His skin had been tanned to a bronze color, and appeared quite rough. There were some fine lines at the corner of his eyes, which showed that he was old. His looks were quite decent, but his haggard appearance reduced his looks significantly. He wore a fashionable looking leather jacket, but the material was very poor, just a dupe. His light wash jeans had a few holes, and there was a pair of bright yellow dad shoes on his feet. This outfit was not suitable for his age, and appeared very awkward. He had tried to make himself look high-end and fashionable, but it had the opposite effect.
Theoretically, if such a person who was dressed out of character, nervous, and of unknown origin suddenly approached someone’s door, most people would stay away or even verbally abuse him and drive him away.
Did he know something? Did he see it? The man pondered as he followed behind the young man, and his original chilled heart began to burn slightly again. From time to time, he looked up at the young man’s upright back, and the anxiety and helplessness in his eyes had unknowingly subsided a lot.
“This is my lounge. You sit down for a while, have you had breakfast?” Fan Jialuo asked politely while taking off his jacket.
This lounge was very high-end. The sofa was leather, the carpet was wool, and it was filled with all kinds of decorations that were very expensive. Sister Shishi came in with a large number of assistants, chatting and paying compliments to Teacher Fan. She opened a huge storage box and set up a variety of cosmetics on a long table. There were various people around, including those serving coffee, those assisting, and those greeting people warmly, all of which made for an orderly and bustling scene.
According to the man’s clothes and appearance, he should be a person struggling at the bottom of society. After suddenly entering such a luxurious place and seeing such a grand scene, he should be at a loss and uneasy. However, he didn’t show such an appearance, and on the contrary, he was nervous and anxious when Fan Jialuo went downstairs, but when he was surrounded by everyone, he completely regained his composure. An extraordinary demeanor escaped from his calm brows and eyes.
He was by no means an ordinary person!
Sister Shishi, who was secretly sizing up the man through the mirror, winked at Teacher Fan and silently asked, “New assistant?”
Fan Jialuo laughed and waved his hand, letting the staff prepare breakfast for the man. Seeing that he was a bit anxious, but his movements were very elegant, the color of his eyes could not help but deepen.
The man sat quietly on the sofa after finishing his breakfast, and did not disturb anyone’s work. He was carrying something in his heart, and it was a matter of survival, but he was still able to wait patiently, and did not take out his cell phone, which showed how cultured a person he was. When he glanced out the window, a melancholy look captured between his eyebrows, Sister Shishi felt that the slight vicissitudes of his face were very beautiful. He didn’t have the sort of gorgeous appearance that was unforgettable at first sight, but was similar to aged wine, which needed to be tasted slowly to appreciate its distinctive aftertaste. He was a very flavorful man, but he was not very good at dressing.
Sister Shishi stared at the man for a while with a tangled expression of regret.
Fan Jialuo kept his eyes closed, as if he was in a slumber. “There is a spiritual profiling part of the test today, right?” he suddenly asked.
“Yes.” Sister Shishi nodded without thinking.
“Were all the celebrities in the circle invited?” Fan Jialuo continued to ask.
“Huh,” Sister Shishi finally realized something and lowered her voice to ask, “Teacher Fan, why are you asking about this? Do you have a need for this?”
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.
“Pa’r cbatlcu. Pr atf wjxfeq vbcf?”
“Qjla j wlceaf, P’ii pera qea rbwf tjlg bli bc sbe.” Vlrafg Vtlrtl jggjcufv atf sbecu wjc’r vjgx tjlg ab yf rboa jcv rwbbat, jcv atfc cbvvfv klat rjalrojmalbc. “Cigluta, Kfjmtfg Mjc, sbeg ojmf vbfrc’a cffv wemt gfabemtlcu ja jii. Tbe jgf atf yfra qbgagjsji bo yfjeas lc oeii yibbw! Yeg gjalcur obg atf olgra akb lrrefr kfgf jii reqqbgafv ys sbeg ojmf, jcv cbk atfs jgf jii vef ab sbeg ragfcuat. Kfii wf, tbk mjc atfgf yf rbwfbcf jr qfgofma jr sbe lc atf kbgiv? Ktf tfjnfcr jgf abb ecojlg!”
Fan Jialuo smiled helplessly. “God is fair. He will never pile all the good things on one person. When a person gets too much, they will always lose something.”
It wasn’t clear whether this sentence was intentional or not, but it made the waiting man show a stunned expression.
Fan Jialuo patted him on the shoulder and ordered, “Sit here and wait for me. I will be back soon. This road is not a dead end.”
The man suddenly looked at him and asked in a hoarse voice, “How did you know that I was at a dead end? Are you really a psychic? Did you see it?” He didn’t originally have much expectation for Fan Jialuo. He was once a staunch skeptic, and he also dismissed Fan Jialuo’s hype. But now, his faith was shaken. No, to say it was shaken was a bit too light. His world had collapsed three days ago, crashing to the ground and shattering into pieces!
He came here with a one-in-a-million hope. He had enough with the questioning, abuse, and being driven away these days. He was even almost seriously injured by the security guards who surrounded him, so even though Fan Jialuo had ignored him since their initial meeting, he didn’t feel uncomfortable. On the contrary, such treatment gave him enough time to calm down and sort out his feelings.
Fan Jialuo did not answer his question, but just patted his shoulder to comfort him. “You sit down and have a hot drink first. You are in a very bad state now. Sister Shishi, help him take care of his appearance. I will come back later.”
“Okay, Teacher Fan, go ahead, I will take care of him.” Sister Shishi didn’t ask any further questions, picked out a few suitable sets of clothes and shoes for the man to put on, and said she would shave his beard.
The man refused Sister Shishi’s overly enthusiastic proposal, shaved himself, and then picked out a set of clothes to change into. He seemed to be very familiar with these luxury brands. The clothes, pants, and shoes he selected could be matched with complete sets, and they were also the cheapest off-season models. While accepting Fan Jialuo’s kindness, he also tried to control the scale so he wouldn’t appear ignorant or greedy.
If he hadn’t looked so haggard and weathered, Sister Shishi would have thought he was an aristocrat. His education and temperament were worthy of this word.
“Where are you from? Are you really Teacher Fan’s assistant?” Sister Shishi became curious.
However, the man just smiled bitterly and waved his hand. “You may not believe it, but even I don’t know who I am.” After saying this, he turned his head away and looked out the window, his eyes showing deep confusion. He didn’t dare to look at the mirror directly in front of him, as if there was some terrible ghost hidden in it.
—
At the same time, Fan Jialuo had found Song Wennuan and said bluntly, “Can you invite Liu Zhao to participate in this episode of spiritual profiling?”
“Who? Liu Zhao? The grand slam Best Actor?” Song Wennuan was confused.
“Yes, him.” Fan Jialuo nodded.
Song Wennuan began to wail, “Teacher Fan, are you crazy? Do you know how much Liu Zhao’s salary is for a film? It’s 90 million! The total investment for our show is only 9 million, do you want me to go bankrupt?”
“So you can’t invite him?” Fan Jialuo took out his cell phone to call Zhao Wenyan and asked, “Can you invite Liu Zhao to participate in this episode of the program?”
The other side rattled off a bunch of words, and their meaning was similar to Song Wennuan’s.
Fan Jialuo asked again, “Can you give it a try? Tell him that the appearance fee we give is a lot.”
“Do you think Liu Zhao is a country bumpkin who has never seen the world? He gets paid a lot for appearance fees. It would be strange if he cared about your little money! He is a copper pea who can’t be flattened with a hammer, he is very opinionated! He never participates in variety shows, because it is a waste of his time. He only makes movies, only takes good scripts, does not hype himself up, does not sell a false persona, and has a very clear plan for his career. No one can be his master! If you ask him to appear on your show, the result will be just two words, no way! No matter how much money I give, it’s useless!” Zhao Wenyan’s agitated voice came from the microphone. Su Fengxi’s comeback had brought him to the verge of emotional collapse.
Fan Jialuo reassured, “Don’t get agitated, let’s try it first, if it doesn’t work, then forget it. Your matter can still be solved, I’m still here.”
Zhao Wenyan, who had been deceived and played with by Su Fengxi for several years, naturally valued Fan Jialuo, who pulled him out of the quagmire. With only a few words of comfort from his gentle voice, his heart softened and he sighed. “Okay. I’ll try. But let me tell you first, the chance of success is only about 0.01%, so don’t get your hopes up.”
“Okay, thank you,” Fan Jialuo politely thanked him.
Zhao Wenyan helplessly said there was no need, and called Liu Zhao obediently. Fortunately, Liu Zhao was still Starlight’s first brother and had a very harmonious relationship with Zhao Wenyan, so the two could sit down and discuss it.
Fan Jialuo waited quietly with his cell phone in his hands. Song Wennuan saw his appearance as if he would not give up until he invited the other, and couldn’t help but say, “Teacher Fan, stop waiting and go back to the lounge. It’s possible for anyone to come to our program, but it is impossible for Liu Zhao. In our circle, he is a true god with a very high style. Was Su Fengxi awesome before? A super first-class actress and an international movie queen, she had reached the top, right? But compared with Liu Zhao, she is only at this level.”
Song Wennuan gestured to calf height and said frankly, “If the coffee table’s position is compared to climbing the Himalayas, then Liu Zhao would be the first one to climb to the top, while Su Fengxi was still climbing the foot of the mountain. Some traffic superstars seem to be very prosperous, but in fact, they have not even figured out the way up the mountain. Liu Zhao is a person who has taken the profession of acting to the extreme. You have dared to criticize anyone you caught in the past, but Liu Zhao? Many actors like to call themselves the Best Actor after winning awards, but in my opinion, the only person who truly deserves the title ‘Emperor’ is Liu Zhao.”
Song Wennuan sighed and waved her hand, “Although I really hope to invite him to participate in our show, let’s forget it. This is just a daydream.”
Fan Jialuo sat quietly with his eyes lowered, not even raising his eyelids. Song Rui walked in holding a cup of hot coffee, hugged his shoulders naturally, and asked in a low voice, “Who are you talking about?”
“We are talking about Liu Zhao! The only person Teacher Fan never quarreled with when he was young and frivolous! Brother, you don’t know, right? Liu Zhao is Teacher Fan’s idol. He insisted that Zhao Wenyan and I invite him to record the show. If we don’t invite them, then he will stay here and refuse to leave!” Song Wennuan complained loudly.
“I’m not your idol?” Song Rui sat next to the young man with a smile on his face, but his eyes darkened for a moment.
Fan Jialuo, who didn’t explain the reason to anyone, suddenly approached him, whispered a few words in his ear, and leaned forward, almost leaning into his arms.
Song Rui’s tense expression slowly softened. He held his cup with one hand and placed the other hand on the young man’s back. He sat with him and whispered, isolating everyone in the observation room from the extremely intimate atmosphere.
It was unknown when it started, but they turned from tit-for-tat enemies to close friends, and they now had secrets that they could share with one another. Song Rui, who never made physical contact with others, can touch and accept him without any obstacles. Fan Jialuo, who never opened his heart to anyone, could also talk about what was on his mind without reservation.
When talking, they would always stare into each other’s eyes, and even if they didn’t talk about any interesting topics, they would unconsciously smile at each other. Even Song Wennuan, who was very nervous, noticed this overly intimate behavior. It felt strange, but she doubted her own eyesight.
At the same time, Fan Jialuo had finished whispering and exited Song Rui’s arms. Song Rui handed him the coffee cup and took out his mobile phone with his other hand, ready to make a call.
Fan Jialuo’s eyes suddenly became very bright, and he asked expectantly, “What are you going to do?”
“Help you to invite someone over.” Song Rui’s answer really did not disappoint Fan Jialuo. From some unknown time ago, he has become the young man’s Doraemon, willing to realize any wish for him.
The two looked at each other, and then smiled in perfect understanding. No one knew what they meant.
Song Rui called Zhao Wenyan and directly ordered, “Liu Zhao hasn’t arrived yet, right? I’ll teach you how to speak to him later. You send his agent and assistant away first and leave him alone in the office. First, stare at him quietly without saying anything for about five or six minutes. When he starts to feel uneasy, then you can speak, but your tone must be strong and not leave room for negotiation. Be specific. I will send you a message, just read it and it will be fine. If I fail, it is my responsibility, and none of your business. Fan Jialuo is by my side, he is listening.”
The other party hung up the phone and seemed to have compromised. Song Rui thought for a moment, then edited a few sentences, made slight modifications, and then sent them to Zhao Wenyan. The content was not complicated. In summary, there were three points: First, Tell Liu Zhao that he currently has a contract with the company, and it is his obligation to participate in the variety show. He cannot refuse, and he will have to lose money if he refuses. Secondly, the remuneration given by the program team is very high, and the popularity of the program is also high, which will benefit Liu Zhao’s career. Let him consider it at his own discretion. Thirdly, Fan Jialuo is the mainstay of the program team. If Liu Zhao agrees, he will have to work with him and try his best to cooperate with his script. Fan Jialuo has a very tough background. If Liu Zhao doesn’t give him face this time, Fan Jialuo may put him in a tough position in the future, and even the company will not be able to protect him, so he should be cautious.
Song Rui added at the end: [Remember, when facing him, your attitude must be arrogant, contemptuous, and condescending to show your authority as the president.]
Song Wennuan craned her neck to take a look, and couldn’t help but sneer. “Brother, are you lying to a kid? Liu Zhao and Starlight signed an S-level contract. He doesn’t have to follow the company’s arrangements at all, and he has no obligation to participate in variety shows. Do you believe that he can kill Zhao Wenyan after hearing the first one? No matter how high the appearance fee is, can it be higher than his salary? Can he like our two million? Teacher Fan is indeed our pillar, but who said our show has a script? Aren’t you talking pure nonsense? Liu Zhao is not afraid of people with backgrounds at all, he himself is the background. After hearing these words, not only will he not come, but he will also blacklist our program! Brother, thank you for studying psychology. You don’t understand Liu Zhao too well…”
Before Song Wennuan finished speaking, Zhao Wenyan called, with a very incredulous tone, “He agreed! Can you believe it? He actually agreed!”
Song Rui responded softly, as if he had expected it.
Song Wennuan’s eyes almost popped out of her head, and she kept shouting, “How is this possible? How could he agree? Is he out of his mind?”
However, Fan Jialuo gave him a thumbs up and his eyes bent into crescents from smiling. “You are indeed my idol.”
Song Rui’s lips curled up and he naturally wrapped the young man’s cold thumb into his fiery palm.
Ahh SR and FJ are so cute with each other.
Is that new person the actual Liu Zhao? Cause if so, the SR’s strategy makes sense as the person would be uncomfortable without his puppeteers and wouldn’t know the true power of Liu Zhao and be convinced by ZW’s play
Love it!
Thank you for translating!
Ty for the chapters!!! 💐💕
Lol thanks for the chapter!!! 😄😄😄
Thank you for translation!So it’s body switching time, I guess? At least that’s the vibe I’m getting from this chapter.