When Gu Yanzhou received the message, he was shirtless in the gym with a towel hanging around his neck. He had just come down from the treadmill and was leaning on a makeshift bar to catch his breath. His entire body was covered in sweat, and a few drops of sweat slowly dripped from the tips of his hair, running past the corners of his eyes, sticking to his eyelashes, making it uncomfortable for him to look at the screen, so he squinted lightly.
The text message notification was too loud and Gu Yanzhou’s manager, Chen Yang, who was sitting on the other side of the sofa working, couldn’t help but raise his head to ask, “Who is it?”
Do you have time for dinner?
Gu Yanzhou read those six words repeatedly, then casually tossed his phone aside, opened a can of cold beer, and replied with the sound of the pull tab popping, “It’s nothing.”
Hearing this, Chen Yang raised two fingers to support his glasses frame and thought about all the recent mess in the entertainment industry. “You absolutely cannot get into any romantic relationships. The paparazzi have always been closely watching you… but even if you do start dating someone, don’t hide it from me.” Chen Yang reminded as his thoughts went in many directions. “Getting caught would be troublesome so I can help you manage it. The recent rumors about you and Yang Yinyin haven’t died down yet, just because you two worked together on a film, they forced you into a CP.”
Gu Yanzhou didn’t respond.
He took a couple of sips from his beer, then picked up his phone, and headed upstairs. “Don’t overthink it. I’m going up for a shower. You can leave once you’re done with your work. Just remember to lock the door before you go.”
“Wait,” Chen Yang suddenly remembered something. “I heard that Director Wang recommended that kid Shao Si to you today right?”
“What about it?”
“He’s quite popular now, and his career is on the rise. He’s a rising star in the industry so if you two can be seen together, it would create some good publicity. However, you should make sure he has a good character first. Otherwise, if he gets into trouble, it could also affect you. But Shao Si has been in the industry for five or six years now and has very little negative news, so I think his character should be okay.”
He was thinking about it quite nicely, not noticing that Gu Yanzhou’s brow was furrowing more and more tightly. After he finished speaking, he even asked with anticipation, “What do you think?”
Gu Yanzhou’s footsteps paused for a moment, then he continued walking forward. “Not interested.”
Chen Yang couldn’t quite understand what he meant and vaguely felt that Yanzhou had a somewhat different attitude towards this Shao Si, even to the point of disliking him a bit.
On the other side, Shao Si was currently sitting on a toilet lid, racking his brain to figure out how to salvage this car crash like accident.
Li Guangzong hurried into the restroom carrying Shao Si’s jacket and called out to him, “Dad, are you still in here? Which stall are you in?”
Li Guangzong knocked on each stall’s door one by one and when he finally pushed open the last one, he saw Shao Si sitting on the toilet lid, holding his phone, looking content and somewhat pretentious. One of his legs was bent, and his feet were unceremoniously stepping on the lid. He had his head down, and his neck looked especially pale under the influence of his black hoodie and dark hair.
“We’re leaving. You were right, that Qi Ming is simply an idiot.” Li Guangzong said, while looking like he faced some unpleasant experiences while Shao Si was away. “That Yang Ze isn’t a good one either. Let’s avoid them as much as possible in the future. Are you ready to go? I told the driver to bring the car to the entrance and he arrived already. And put your leg down; if someone takes a picture of you, they’ll say you have no manners and are damaging public property, even stepping on the toilet. Quickly put your leg down.”
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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“I said I asked Gu Yanzhou out for dinner.” While speaking, he finally put down that half-bent leg, which appeared especially long and slender under his ripped jeans. “Gu Yanzhou, your male god.”
Then, Shao Si even lifted his phone and showed him the screen.
— Do you have time for dinner?
— Sorry, I don’t have time.
Li Guangzong was obviously a bit confused. He had no idea how Shao Si and his male god, two people who had nothing to do with each other whatsoever, suddenly became acquainted.
So he didn’t quite catch on at first and could only repeat what Shao Si said, “…Oh, you asked my male god out for dinner, but he rejected you.”
And then, after ten seconds, he widened his eyes and exclaimed, “WHY DID YOU SUDDENLY ASK MY MALE GOD OUT?? WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO?!”
Shao Si stood up, took his jacket from Li Guangzong, and walked towards the exit. “You don’t need to know why. Anyway, I got rejected. Let’s go, take me back home so I can sleep.”
He walked away in a chic manner, leaving Li Guangzong pondering over the message ‘Sorry, I don’t have time.’ He couldn’t help but find it strange. His male gold was known for being the gentlest person in the world, but those few words seemed a bit cold no matter how he looked at it.
After returning home, Shao Si fell into a deep sleep, and it was a mystery what drove him to get out of the shower and then collapse onto his bed. His scenes for tomorrow didn’t start until the afternoon, and there were no other schedules in the morning.
This was the most relaxed day he would have in the next three months. Afterward, he would have to be fully immersed day and night in the filming of Undercover.
Gu Yanzhou often came to visit Director Wang’s set. Initially, only their managers, Li Guangzong and Chen Yang, were sensitive to Gu Yanzhou’s somewhat strange attitude toward Shao Si. But after a few more encounters, Shao Si himself began to notice it.
Even someone like him, who spends his days either filming or sleeping, could feel the subtle rejection from Gu Yanzhou.
Normally, it wasn’t very noticeable whenever they publicly met since there were many people around so Gu Yanzhou’s attitude toward him is quite polite.
Whenever he comes to visit Director Wang, he would bring hot drinks for the entire crew, and he would get one for him as well.
Until one day Li Guangzong insisted on dragging him to thank “Senior Gu.”
Shao Si, who was sitting on a chair, had his legs crossed, and had a script spread out on his lap, refused. “I already thanked him when I got the milk tea. Do we really need to go through all this trouble? It’s unnecessary and I’d look too desperate.”
“…Just try to improve your relations, Dad. Prove that you’re a humble and eager-to-learn good child,” Li Guangzong teased and finally revealed his ultimate purpose. “If you don’t go, I won’t be able to talk to my male god either.”
Shao Si responded with a cold chuckle and couldn’t resist saying after a while, “Son, do you know how the paparazzi would write about you if you act like this? …Attention whore.”
Li Guangzong: “…”
But it seemed like fate was on the side of the ‘attention whore.’ As soon as Shao Si’s words fell, he saw Director Wang waving at him and calling him over from a distance. “Xiao Si, come here for a moment and also bring your script. Let your Senior Gu explain the scene to you.”
HAHAHAHAHHAAHHAA, TOO AWESOME!
Li Guangzong cleared his throat, afraid that he might suddenly burst out into laughter.
So Shao Si had no choice but to walk over with his milk tea and script, “Hello, Senior Gu.”
Gu Yanzhou replied, “Hello.”
At this moment, Gu Yanzhou had removed his jacket, unbuttoned three buttons on his shirt, and had a gentle expression. However, looking down from his collar, his collarbones and the subtly revealed chest gave off a somewhat aggressive vibe.
Shao Si is really not that good at small talk, especially with people of the same profession, so he didn’t know how to follow up after saying hello. “Senior Gu, which scene are we going to talk about?”
“I’m really sorry,” Gu Yanzhou said, calmly lifting his wrist to check the time. He then picked up his jacket, stood up, and nodded slightly to him and Director Wang. “I just remembered that I have something else to attend to. Let’s do this another day, I’ll definitely have time on another day.”
Shao Si: “…” What does this mean?
Afterwards, Li Guangzong comforted him, “He’s a famous film emperor, it’s normal to be busy with work, try to understand him a little okay… what matters more is that the hot milk tea tastes delicious.”
This matter could be considered resolved now.
With everyday living a fulfilling life, being busy with filming, and casually chatting with anyone in the crew who had contact with Yang Yinyin, Shao Si quickly forgot about Gu Yanzhou. He didn’t even notice that Gu Yanzhou’s promise to meet on “another day” had never materialized.
The next time Shao Si heard the three words “Gu Yan Zhou” was during one of those times when Li Guangzong helped him take photos for Weibo. He checked his followers list in passing and realized that Gu Yanzhou hadn’t followed him back.
Shao Si was rehearsing his lines in the nanny car at the time. He leaned back lazily in his seat, looking like he had no bones in his body. “Can I unfollow him?”
Li Guangzong seemed quite worried, “Dad, it’s not a good idea to do that. People might start speculating and spreading rumors. He might have just forgotten… my male god is really busy… you know, why don’t you try interacting more with the fans when you have time?”
Shao Si: “Oh.”
But Li Guangzong noticed that Shao Si started checking his Weibo more frequently after this conversation.
Of course, compared to other celebrities, this isn’t much at all. At most, it’s just one day out of seven or eight days when he would quietly take his phone out and check it halfway through dinner.
Li Guangzong just couldn’t believe how unusually bothered Shao Si was about the fact that Gu Yanzhou didn’t follow him back.
Although he knew that Shao Si carried about this mutual following, it was most likely just something to do with male dignity, and it had nothing to do with who the other person was.
Moreover, Shao Si also put on an act and refused to admit it, explaining, “I use Weibo just to keep up with current events.”
Li Guangzong shook his chopsticks, “Oh, really?”
“Or else? Why would I keep checking him if I had time? Look – just a few days ago, they found that child who was kidnapped by traffickers and kept in the mountains for eight years. Look at this, Son, it shows that our country’s crime-solving abilities are pretty good and deserve praise.”
Li Guangzong thought, This kind of incoherent talk, I almost fucking believe it.
“And look at this one,” Shao Si said as he finished eating and placed down his chopsticks. He swiped his fingers twice across the screen and recited aloud like an announcer, “The total online views for The Returning Village Wife have exceeded one billion, making history in the rural romance genre.”
Even the sound of his voice is delightful to listen to.
While his tone remains clear, it carries an occasional icy edge, and there’s a habitual huskiness in the way his words trail off.
He always felt that if Shao Si didn’t become an actor and pursued singing instead, he would definitely become popular.
But Li Guangzong couldn’t help but angrily snap his chopsticks in half, “SHAO SI, DON’T LET ME FUCKING HEAR THOSE FOUR WORDS ‘THE RETURNING VILLAGE WIFE’ AGAIN!!”
Thanks for the update 🤣❤️🤣❤️🤣
Well, this romance is off to a good start.
I can’t with this pair of “Dad and Son” xD
Thank you for the chapter 💐
Gu Yanzhou stop being so cold XD the dad-son pair relationship is really good lmaoo
I love this novel so far, the way the MC and his manager/assistant talks is hilarious. I’m assuming Mr. Gu is the ML? If he is then I actually like how there’s no instant love at first sight and there doesn’t seem to be any physical interest. It’ll be more fun to see how that changes later on.
Yes, it’s Shao Si x Gu Yanzhou
Love your profile pic btw lol
I like it that Gu Yanzhou’s being rude cause he’ll later regret treating him like that and try to fix it up when he falls for Shao Si. I bet he’ll definitely fall first.
Thanks for the chapter ♡
Omg I’m loving this so far, the relationship between him and the manager is so hilarious 😂 mystery as to why Gu Yanzhou dislikes our little film emperor but I guess we will find out sooner or later 🤔 thank your for the chapters! ❤️❤️
Thanks for the chapter!