Author: 公子于歌 / Gong Zi Yu Ge

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 64: He Likes Him

Bai Qingquan let go of Shen Jintai and glanced at Wei Ge and the others, who were all stunned in the distance. They waved their hands and walked towards them.

Wei Ge and Bai Qingquan’s two assistants were dumbfounded. They believed that if anyone saw this scene, they would be as shocked, if not more so, than they were. Before, due to filming <The East Palace Chronicles>, there were always cameras on, so Bai Qingquan and Shen Jintai’s harmony could be chalked up to acting, especially Bai Qingquan, who was really good at hiding his true feelings. He obviously hated Shen Jintai, but when in front of a camera, he could always posed as a good friend.

Now there were no reporters, no cameras, and no one taking pictures of them. In the most inconspicuous corner, when everyone was tipsy and drunk, these two were hugging each other in such an intimate manner.

This wasn’t putting on a show. It was a real relationship.

Shen Jintai wiped the wine stains from the corner of his mouth, and then heard someone call to him: “Xiao Jin!”

He looked back and saw that it was Yan Yaoxuan, who he hadn’t seen for over half a year. The moment Yan Yaoxuan saw Shen Jintai, he couldn’t even recognize him. The change was too drastic. Shen Jintai was better-looking, more confident, and looked more radiant.

Shen Jintai was surprised to see Yan Yaoxuan. He immediately smiled and said, “I didn’t think you would come.”

“Just arrived,” Yan Yaoxuan said. “Xiao Jin, happy birthday!”

Shen Jintai: “Thank you.”

Yan Yaoxuan thought their meeting would be awkward, but he didn’t expect Shen Jintai to behave calmly. Shen Jintai asked, “Have you seen Auntie Yan and the others?”

Yan Yaoxuan: “Not yet. I came to greet you first.”

Shen Jintai: “They are in the room. I’ll take you there.”

“Wait a minute. First, I want to give you a birthday gift.” As Yan Yaoxuan said it, he handed him some car keys.

Shen Jintai froze as he heard Yan Yaoxuan say, “Before I left, didn’t I tell you that I wanted to give you an RV? I bought it. It’s hard on you when you’re filming, so it’s more convenient to have an RV.”

Shit, if you didn’t make a move, it would still be done, but when you did make your move, the result was amazing*.

*Metaphor referring to in normal times, your performance is not really outstanding, but when you actually put in effort (make your move) the results are incredible.

Shen Jintai quickly returned the keys to him and said, “It’s too expensive. I can’t accept it.”

“Is it because I like you?” Yan Yaoxuan asked directly.

Shen Jintai was speechless.

Yan Yaoxuan said, “This really has nothing to do with whether I like you or not. We’re brothers and friends. I wanted to give it to you since you made your comeback. Take it. It’s already bought.”

“I already have one. The company gave it to me. You haven’t heard the news, right? I’ve signed with a new company.” Shen Jintai smiled as he put the car keys into Yan Yaoxuan’s pocket and patted him on the shoulder. “Thank you Yaoxuan. This means a lot to me, but the gift is too expensive. I can’t accept it. I heard auntie say you didn’t plan to return to China. Just you coming back for my birthday is enough to move me. Let’s go. I’ll take you to see auntie and them. Your brother is here also.”

Yan Yaoxuan was lost for words. He didn’t know how to respond to Shen Jintai. He put his hands in his pocket and took out the keys, but soon saw his brother and mother walking over.

Mrs. Yan and Yan Qiuchi caught sight of Yan Yaoxuan instantly. Yan Qiuchi was a bit surprised to see them, especially his brother. As Yan Yaoxuan was about to remove the keys from his pocket, seeing Yan Qiuchi heading over, he put them back.

“Yaoxuan!” Mrs. Yan shouted.

Shen Jintai looked at them. When he saw Yan Qiuchi, he knew instantly who had put a coat around him when he was talking with Director Guo, since Yan Qiuchi wasn’t wearing his coat that he originally came with.

A vague memory slowly emerged. As he was sending off Guo Rui, he recalled that Yan Qiuchi and Zhang Yuan seemed to be there as well. Shen Jintai stretched out his arm, took the coat from the back of his chair and walked towards them.

Mrs. Yan asked Yan Yaoxuan, “You child, why didn’t you tell us that you were coming back? Is this to surprise Xiao Jin or something?”

Yan Yaoxuan said, “You guessed it. What can I say?” He gave Yan Qiuchi a slight glance. Feeling a bit guilty, he called to him, “Brother.”

Yan Qiuchi responded with “Nn” and didn’t say anything else.

“It’s getting late. We should go too,” Mrs. Yan said. “It’s too late to drive back. Let’s stay in a hotel. Come, let’s go together. The cake I made for you is in the car. It’s probably lost some of its freshness now, but it’s still good enough for us four to eat. We’ll have it back at the hotel.” As she finished speaking, Mrs. Yan took Shen Jintai’s hand. Shen Jintai held her hands as he stretched his other arm, which was holding the coat, towards Yan Qiuchi.

As if there was a connection in his heart, Yan Qiuchi stretched out his hand and took the coat. It looked like floating clouds and flowing water*, but Yan Yaoxuan still caught it in his eyes. He didn’t know that Yan Qiuchi had put his coat on Shen Jintai earlier, but he was still surprised to see Shen Jintai taking the initiative to hand his brother his coat.

*(行云流水) Idiom refers to effortlessly. Naturally.

It seemed that in the past six months of his absence, everything had changed. His brother was no longer antagonistic towards Shen Jintai.

Yan Qiuchi put on his coat, called the driver and asked him to come over.

“I drove here,” Yan Yaoxuan said. “Does anyone want to go with me?”

“I will go with you,” Yan Qiuchi said. Yan Yaoxuan immediately regretted his offer.

Shen Jintai stayed at the door for a while as he bid farewell to the rest of the crew. Mrs. Yan was by his side with her arms around him, looking like she was his real mother as she graciously shook hands with people from time to time.

Yan Yaoxuan watched their figures from his car window and started the car. Yan Qiuchi, who was riding shotgun, asked, “Have you been drinking?”

“No,” Yan Yaoxuan said.

As the car drove on the wintery road, the two brothers were in complete silence. Yan Qiuchi suddenly started asking him questions, like when did he come back and why didn’t he tell his family in advance.

Yan Yaoxuan answered his questions one by one and finally took the initiative to clarify, saying, “I came back to celebrate Xiao Jin’s birthday.”

Yan Qiuchi pursed his lips and stopped speaking. After a prolonged silence, he asked, “Do you still miss him?”

Yan Yaoxuan said, “What do you mean?”

“You confessed but were rejected,” Yan Qiuchi said.

“It was hard for a while. It’s not something you can easily get over.” Yan Yaoxuan turned to look at his brother. “Your relationship with Xiao Jin is much better than before…”

Yan Qiuchi snorted an “Nn”.

Yan Yaoxuan felt an inexplicable jealousy upon hearing Yan Qiuchi’s response. He tightly gripped the steering wheel and said, “Then he must be thrilled.”

Yan Qiuchi understood the underlying tone behind that sentence. Yan Yaoxuan must still think that Shen Jintai still liked him. The truth, though, was that Shen Jintai no longer had feelings for him. This wasn’t his pretend play-hard-to-get. He truly no longer had feelings for him. The way Shen Jintai looked at him now was neither flattering nor avoidance, magnanimous nor alienated. It was now simply respectful, kind, and polite.

Yan Qiuchi didn’t divulge this to Yan Yaoxuan. The silence from his brother made Yan Yaoxuan’s heartbeat accelerate as it was slowly overcome with dread. He was afraid his brother and Shen Jintai would become entangled again, but this time around, it might truly work out. After all, Shen Jintai really loved his brother.

Yan Yaoxuan drove in silence, as his eyes began to dampen. The winter in Nancheng was cold and there was fog in the night. When they crossed the bridge, the fog was so thick that they couldn’t see the high-rise buildings.

With emotion surging inside his chest, Yan Yaoxuan couldn’t hold it in. He said, in an anxious tone, “You hated him very much before.”

“Everyone has changed,” Yan Qiuchi said.

“Have you changed too?”

“I have changed too.”

Yan Yaoxuan’s emotions climaxed to its highest point. He was most afraid of hearing this from Yan Qiuchi and what the outcome would be. Yan Qiuchi, however, didn’t say anything further. After a short silence, Yan Yaoxuan was able to calm his mood and asked, “Does he know?”

“I don’t know,” Yan Qiuchi said. “I’m not going to tell him either.”

Yan Yaoxuan was flabbergasted. He turned his head and saw Yan Qiuchi leaning on the seat as he stared slightly ahead, out the car window. Hearing this caught him by surprise. Yan Yaoxuan’s uneasy heart loosened. He felt sorry for Shen Jintai and said, “You don’t need to… You don’t need to be concerned about it if it’s because of me… I’m not that kind of person. I’ve been prepared all these years.”

“It has nothing to do with you,” Yan Qiuchi said. “Have you seen his drama? He acts very well and will have major achievements in the entertainment industry in the future. He loves this industry. I hope he can stay on his path and go for a long time. It’s best if I don’t get involved.”

Yan Qiuchi had had a vague idea in his heart for some time now. When saying it out loud, he inexplicably felt sad. He recalled the scene of sending Guo Rui off. Shen Jintai was standing in the cold with only a thin sweater on. Guo Rui was holding onto his hand and kept chatting. Shen Jintai’s nose was getting redder from the frost, but his smile remained bright. He said to Guo Rui, “Okay, we’ll talk again later.”

Guo Rui was drunk and refused to leave. Shen Jintai liked the director very much, so he continued to listen to him cooperatively. In the biting cold wind, Yan Qiuchi took off his coat and wrapped it around Shen Jintai.

Shen Jintai was probably buzzed. He turned his head slightly, showing a wine-colored face as he pulled the collar of the coat closer to him. Despite not having his coat any longer and the cold wind continually blasting him, Yan Qiuchi felt warm in his heart.

He went back into the restaurant as someone called to him. It didn’t matter if Shen Jintai knew that the coat had belonged to him.

Yan Yaoxuan was in a dismal state when he heard those words. It confirmed that his brother now liked Shen Jintai. As long as his brother made his move, he would no longer have a chance. He was well aware of this. What made him give up was never Shen Jintai’s rejection, but Yan Qiuchi’s feelings*.

*Clarity: He means that even if Shen Jintai had rejected him, there’s always a chance those feelings could change. On the other hand, if Yan Qiuchi falls in love with Shen Jintai, knowing how Shen Jintai has always felt about him, it is most probable that they will get together, making Yan Yaoxuan’s chances basically 0%.

Many things used to be vague. Feelings were complicated and relationships were murky enough that love could have been hidden beneath the exterior. Now that he had this conversation with Yan Yaoxuan, everything had become crystal clear.

Yan Qiuchi closed his eyes. All his mind could see was Shen Jintai’s smile.

What an absurd irony, but it made his heart beat irresistibly. He had always been restrained, and naturally, he could restrain these feelings. Shen Jintai used to like him, but no longer. He had changed, and it was only fair.

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The author has something to say:

The duo of secretly in love brothers is online!

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Kinky Thoughts:

Too little, too late, but I’ll give Yan Qiuchi credit for realizing it.

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<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 公子于歌 / Gong Zi Yu Ge

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 63: Qingquan Jintai

Today was Bai Qingquan’s death scene. The director, assistant director, and makeup artists all came over to take his exit shot. He was surrounded by flowers and looked at Shen Jintai through the crowd. He wanted to take a picture with Shen Jintai and post it on Weibo. He may have entered the play too deeply, and now he had developed a deep affection for Shen Jintai.

Mrs. Yan was sobbing with Shen Jintai in her arms. Her cries managed to finally pull Shen Jintai away from his uncomfortable emotions.

Shen Jintai smiled and patted Mrs. Yan on the back and said, “Auntie, it’s all just acting. Li Xu is miserable, but I’m not.”

Mrs. Yan sobbed and said, “I just can’t watch you cry.”

Yan Qiuchi handed a tissue over. Shen Jintai took it in his hand and wiped the tears from Mrs. Yan’s eyes.

Mrs. Yan resumed her normal demeanor and became a little embarrassed. She took the tissue and wiped her face and said, in a heavy nasally voice, “You acted so well. When this episode is broadcast, I know it’ll make me cry all over again.”

“Jintai, let’s cut the cake!” The assistant director called him.

Mrs. Yan said, “Go and celebrate with the crew first. Don’t eat too much. I also brought a cake that I made myself.”

Shen Jintai smiled, looked at Yan Qiuchi again, and then ran to the crew.

Bai Qingquan called out, “Jintai!”

Shen Jintai turned his head to look and saw Bai Qingquan beckoning him, so he ran over. “Congratulations, it’s finally over!”

“Thanks. I haven’t acted enough yet.” As he said this, Bai Qingquan wrapped his arms around Shen Jintai’s shoulders, and Shen Jintai did the same to him. Bai Qingquan said to the photographer, “Can you take a good picture? It’s the first time us two as rivals have taken such a close photo. Maybe it’ll catch fire.”

Everyone around laughed.

After the two of them took the photo, Shen Jintai let go of his hand and said, “Don’t leave just yet. You still have to eat some of my cake later.”

Zheng Siqi also came to take a photo with Bai Qingquan.

Shen Jintai’s birthday celebration commenced. The scene became chaotic and rowdy. The director personally lit the candle for him and held it in front of him. Producer Zhang put a birthday crown on Shen Jintai’s head and said, “Make a wish.”

Due to the popularity of <The East Palace is Coming>, the highlights of the drama were filmed alongside the drama and were named <The East Palace Chronicles>. It was broadcast on the official website. As long as it was on set, even when they weren’t filming scenes, the cameras remained turned on to record all related events. Shen Jintai wished, “Then I wish <The East Palace is Coming> will be watched for a long time and break the ratings again!”

The crew all applauded, and some laughed and shouted, “No matter how high we are, we’ll definitely break 4 on both stations!”

“More than breaking 4, it’s best to break 6 in the end.” Based on Shen Jintai’s rhetoric, it could be seen that he had completely recovered from the emotional impact of filming.

He closed his eyes with a smile and made his wish. Only a few candles were blown out when he blew. Zheng Siqi and Bai Qingquan smiled and leaned in to help him blow out his remaining lit candles. With a click, the scene was captured by another photographer.

The three heads looked similar. They were all handsome young men in their twenties. Because the flash was turned on, the surroundings were dark and only the three of them with shining bright faces appeared clearly in the picture. This photo became a classic set of photos of <The East Palace is Coming> and the origin of <The East Palace Three Masters>… But this was a later story to tell.

The next part of the celebration was a dinner with the entire crew. The scene was in full swing, and it was even more lively than on the day of filming. The actors and actresses, along with the staff, all talked enthusiastically. Those responsible for taking down the set went off diligently, while those who needed to remove their makeup went to their dressing rooms. Yan Qiuchi had to meet with Director Guo and Producer Zhang first and asked his mother, “Mom, are you going with me, or do you want to wait for Jintai?”

Mrs. Yan was unaccustomed to hearing “Jintai”. She was taken aback at first, then said, “You guys go first. I’ll go with Xiao Jin.”

Shen Jintai had gone to remove his makeup. When he got to his dressing room, he saw Bai Qingquan come out of his room wearing a down jacket. Wei Ge hurriedly walked out. The two of them met at the door, and Shen Jintai said with a smile, “So fast?”

Bai Qingquan: “My fans are still waiting for me.”

“The whole crew is having dinner later.” Shen Jintai said.

“I know. I’ll join the crew once I greet the fans. I can’t leave without saying anything.” After he finished talking, Bai Qingquan clasped Shen Jintai’s hand, and the two of them held their hands together for a moment before they were released, and Bai Qingquan walked away.

Shen Jintai couldn’t help but grin as he turned towards his dressing room only to hear a ding dong. Xiao Ai had come online.

Xiao Ai: “Dear!”

Shen Jintai was influenced by the harmonious and exciting atmosphere just now. He was in a particularly happy mood as he said to Xiao Ai, “I got points again?”

“Yes! It has been detected that Bai Yueguang’s favorability for you has soared again. The killer ankles reward has been sent out! Your next reward is a beauty reward, and it has already accumulated eight points!”

“Is there a choice for the next beauty reward?”

“Dear, it’s just… I didn’t expect your tasks to be completed so quickly. I’m afraid there will not be many options for rewards in the future, so I have temporarily cancelled your right to choose. You’ll earn them directly as you complete your tasks. For your next beauty reward, you’ll have shiny and white teeth that’ll remain that way until you’re 60.”

Wow! With this, he could do toothpaste commercials in the future.

“Kiss~ You’re in a good mood today.”

Shen Jintai smiled and went into the dressing room. After removing his makeup, he came out of the house wrapped in a long down jacket and got into Mrs. Yan’s car. After getting into the car, he asked, “Where’s President Yan?”

“He went with Director Guo and the others, presumably to talk about business.” Mrs. Yan touched his hands. “You’re still so cold.”

Shen Jintai: “No matter how many layers I wear, my hands and feet are always like this.”

“It’s okay if your hands are cold, but if your feet are icy, you must soak them in hot water before going to bed. I have studied with a health master in the past few years. He said that foot soaking has many benefits. You should also try it. I soak mine in herbal medicine every night before going to bed. I’ll let you try it when we go home,” Mrs. Yan said. “You’re the opposite of Qiuchi on this point. He’s very strong, and his hands and feet have always been warm since he was a child.”

Shen Jintai smiled. His phone started to ring. He answered it and started talking about it for most of the ride. “My phone was turned off during filming, and I didn’t have time to talk during my breaks.” He said to Mrs. Yan.

Mrs. Yan smiled and said, “It’s okay. I know you’re very busy.” For the first time, she really felt deeply that Shen Jintai had changed. He became busier and more confident, resembling a slight shadow of Yan Qiuchi.

Yan Qiuchi had always been busy in his life with work. She was happy for Shen Jintai but was also a little disappointed.

Shen Jintai was looking through his WeChat messages when he suddenly raised his head and asked, “Has Yaoxuan returned to China?”

Mrs. Yan froze for a moment. “No.”

“He asked me out for dinner.” Shen Jintai showed the text message to her.

Mrs. Yan was surprised and said, “This kid, when he returned to his country, he didn’t tell us anything at all. I mentioned him on the way here. Qiuchi said that he hadn’t decided whether to return or not.”

“Then I will send him the restaurant address,” Shen Jintai said.

Mrs. Yan took out her phone and called Yan Yaoxuan directly. The phone was quickly connected, but there was a lot of background noise. She couldn’t clearly hear very well. Mrs. Yan asked, “Are you back?”

“Well…” the noise at the other end finally became a little quieter. “I’m back.”

Mrs. Yan: “Where are you? It’s so noisy.”

Yan Yaoxuan: “Karaoke with friends.”

Mrs. Yan: “Today is Xiao Jin’s birthday. We’re going to have dinner. Xiao Jin is sending you the address if you want to come.”

After hanging up the phone, she smiled and said to Shen Jintai, “He must have known that it’s your birthday today and wanted to surprise you, so he didn’t tell anyone.”

Looking at Mrs. Yan’s expression, Shen Jintai deduced that she didn’t know about Yan Yaoxuan’s confession. He gave her a cordial smile back as he texted the address to Yan Yaoxuan.

Yan Yaoxuan replied with an OK emoji.

—

The crew had been working nonstop. With Chinese New Year’s approaching, they were given a three-day vacation. Before, it was impossible for breaks. The drama was too big and one day off would be a lot of money lost.

The actors could rest since they had arranged schedules. The crew, on the other hand, couldn’t and some had to miss important occasions, such as one of the photographers who couldn’t be with his wife after she just gave birth.

Despite the high ratings of the show, the crew hadn’t held a celebration banquet yet. Tonight’s dinner would be considered it. As Mrs. Yan stepped out of the car, she glanced at the restaurant and said, “Ah, they must’ve spent a lot of money.”

The crew had also invited back some actors who had already gone offline, such as Song Wei. They hadn’t seen them in a long time, so this occasion was also a rare get-together. The banquet was extremely lively.

Everyone ate and drank until they were full of food and wine. Many people were drunk. The drunkest was Guo Rui, who started to cry and kept thanking this and that. He had worked tirelessly on this drama and felt a huge sense of accomplishment. His tears were tears of joy.

Yan Qiuchi helped him out with Director Zhang. When they got him into the car, Shen Jintai ran out to say his goodbyes. When Director Guo saw him, he refused to leave. He held his hand and kept drunk talking with him.

Shen Jintai had drunk a normal amount of alcohol, but he was prone to flushing after drinking. His face and neck, and especially his ears, were red. When he ran out, he wasn’t wearing a coat, but only a thin sweater. He stood in the cold wind, nodding non-stop. After finally sending Guo Rui away, he returned inside and realized that he had an extra coat on when he sat down.

He became a little confused. He didn’t remember who and when a person put on the coat for him as he was talking to Director Guo. There were so many people coming and going that he didn’t pay attention at the time.

Slowly, the banquet was winding down as people began leaving one after another. The crew was prepared this time around as security outside was extremely strict. Many stars walked out in a drunken stupor. Bai Qingquan sat in the corner, staring blankly as his face was flushed with wine.

“Drink too much?” Shen Jintai sat down with a smile.

Bai Qingquan glanced up at him and smiled slightly at the corner of his mouth. His beautiful face was flushed as he said, “I’m a little confused.”

Shen Jintai: “Let’s go and head back and get a good rest. Everyone’s leaving.”

Bai Qingquan took a disposable wine glass, poured another glass of wine, and handed it to Shen Jintai. Shen Jintai hooked a cigarette on his ear, looking like a little ruffian, took the wine glass handed over by Bai Qingquan and said, “Ah? Haven’t you drunk enough?”

“We have to toast.” Bai Qingquan looked a bit drunk. His smile was soft, and his eyes were stained with alcohol, making him look quite seductive.

The two of them clinked their glasses, and after drinking, Bai Qingquan stood up woozily and opened his arms as Shen Jintai hugged him.

“I’m very happy that I introduced you to this crew at the beginning. I’m very happy to have made this drama with you. If I have the opportunity in the future, I want to cooperate again,” Bai Qingquan said.

The alcohol in their bodies intertwined, creating a mellow and intoxicating mood.

Shen Jintai: “Me too.”

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The author has something to say:

The previous chapter was so sad, but this chapter is more prosperous.

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Kinky Thoughts:

I’m asking myself… is Yan Qiuchi really the ML here? Cause to me… so far Shen Jintai x Bai Qingquan have such good chemistry! Though I guess he’s very thoughtful…

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<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 公子于歌 / Gong Zi Yu Ge

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 62: The Death of Zhou Jing

Bai Qingquan was melancholic today. After filming for a few months, he established a deep bond with the East Palace crew. This was the longest and most attentive drama he had filmed, and he gained a wealth of experience from being in this crew.

He had known about Zhou Jing’s death two days ago, and those scenes were going to be filmed today. He was surprised at first, since in the original work, he, as emperor, would’ve lasted a few more years, but the screenwriter had asked him to receive his lunch box* two episodes early.

*Referring to when you get a lunch box/bento after your parts are finished. The extended meaning refers to when someone in the movie dies and leaves (AKA goes offline).

Last week, they received rumors from the director and screenwriter that the finale would be somewhat different from the original work, especially the endings of the main characters, whose parts had more or less already been changed. The producers had been meeting to discuss this matter for a few days, and yesterday decided that they would shoot according to the ending planned by the adaptation.

This was in consideration of the ratings. The ending of the original work had long been known by everyone. With an adaptation, the audience’s attention to the characters in the play, especially the popular Li Xu’s final ending, would push ratings to a new high.

After Li Xu went offline, there would be a few more episodes in the future focusing on the heroine and the new emperor. If the drama stuck to the original plot, it was estimated that the audience viewership would fall off. In order to prevent this, the last few episodes were all originally made by the screenwriter, Meng Xiaosheng.

Though melancholic, Bai Qingquan was still jubilant. Zhou Jing’s death was very touching. He also got a flying page that added a story about Zhou Jing and the others when they were young. He thought this fit well.

He recalled how, despite being the male protagonist, he endured massive scolding during the middle and second half of the series, although not as much as Yang Lizhi.

He had to hand it to Meng Xiaosheng. With a turn of the pen, his character immediately changed. He felt that the relationship between him and Li Xu had become more moving.

Zhou Jing’s life had been hard. Since the death of his birth mother, he had lived under the nose of Empress Xiao. His life had been rough since he was a child. When he grew up, he became ambitious and wanted to seize the throne. Experiencing many life and death situations, he was finally able to sit on the emperor’s throne. He managed to firmly secure his power despite multiple internal and external conflicts, but he was on the verge of death.

He rose from being the second prince, pretending to be idle clouds and wild storks*, to becoming an ambitious, scheming prince, and eventually emperor. Now when Bai Qingquan donned his costume, he felt as if he was Zhou Jing.

*(闲云野鹤) Idiom referring to people who live idle and free from world affairs.

—

Zhou Jing beckoned slightly, “Come to me.”

Li Xu got up again, knelt down in front of him, and held Zhou Jing’s hand.

Zhou Jing grabbed him. He was so weak and out of breath. Li Xu leaned forward and put his ears to his mouth, and listened to Zhou Jing say, “A’Xu, I’m going to die.”

Li Xu flushed as tears almost burst out. At this moment, Guo Rui shouted from behind the monitor, “Li Xu, you can’t cry.”

You could no longer tell the difference between Shen Jintai and Li Xu, and Bai Qingquan and Zhou Jing.

After Li Xu listened, he didn’t move for a long time. He only lowered his eyes slightly, his Adam’s apple bobbed, and blue veins appeared faintly on his neck. When he raised his head again, the tears had faded, leaving only traces of red in his eyes. He said, “You won’t be alone.”

Zhou Jing smiled. His eyes were full of tears, and his face was haggard with makeup. Tears rolled down his face as they slid past his beard. He grabbed something with his other hand and stuffed it into Li Xu’s palm. It was the red book iron voucher*. Those who have this would be spared from death.

*(丹书铁券) Award given by the emperor to heroes. It is the embryonic form of modern-day medals. On it would have:
1. Dates and names, 2. Record of merits/achievements, 3. The emperor’s privileges (such as avoiding death), 4. The emperor’s oath.

Li Xu raised his head and looked at Zhou Jing. Zhou Jing said, “This is the last thing I can give you.”

The two of them… One an unlovable prince, the other was the humblest little eunuch. They had been together since they were seven and had walked over 20 springs and autumns together. Now, one was at death’s door while the other had hair full of white and an unknown fate.

Looking back on the rhetoric of his youth, their fate was tragic.

“I told the empress that after I die, you will escort my coffin to the mausoleum. Don’t stay in the palace. You can rest assure… I have decreed that whoever kills you will be punished by the nine clans*.”

*(九族) Punishment that’ll extend up to 9 generations. It basically means that not only will the person who kills Li Xu get punished, but his extended family will suffer the same as well.

Li Xu didn’t speak. He buried his face in his chest as his shoulders trembled. The camera didn’t capture his face.

Zhou Jing petted his white hair and said, “No… Don’t cry. You deserve it. I know that you killed those people for me.”

The person in front of him was once a thin and small eunuch. Because of his poor family, he was sold to the palace and became a cripple¹. The deep palace couldn’t hide his beauty. He once became the favorite of the crown prince, with unlimited scenery and glory from the East Palace. Later, the crown prince died, and he became the “Wufu Chitose²” that adults used to scare three-year-old children.

¹Castration.
²God sent by the Jade Emperor to patrol the world and inspect good and evil in order to bring blessings and misfortune.

White was his hair, always moody and good at torture.

The people would preach:

“He was the crown prince’s lover. He still wants to kill those who had frame his prince, but many of the people he killed after bear no grudges against the prince.”

“He was vicious by nature. Legends have it that he was the transformation of a snake demon. How else could an eunuch have such means?”

“The emperor was most kind and benevolent. Thinking of his affection of growing up with him, he had shielded him. One day, he’ll meet his fate and it won’t be better than those that he has harmed.”

Li Xu’s cruelty allowed Zhou Jing to ascend and become a wise and benevolent monarch. He gave all his kindness to only two people and sacrificed his life for it. He had offended too many, that even the red book iron voucher couldn’t protect him.

He had countless enemies that wanted to eat him alive. Even ordinary people who had no grudges would inevitably spit when they mentioned him. He was indistinguishable between good and evil, black and white. While he harmed many, it ensured that the young prince would successfully ascend to the throne, and there were no traitors or dignitaries that would control the dynasty. This was his feat. The turbulent era had passed, bringing a calm peace. Yet he remained in the cauldron above the charcoal fire as it cooked*. Now he could leave this deep palace and spend the rest of his life in peace.

*(烹煮) Referring to ancient torture where a prisoner is poured into boiling water in a deep large wok as a form of death penalty.
*Clarity: It’s saying he helped stabilize the crown, which brought stability and peace to the country. However, his methods were vile and made many enemies. With the voucher the emperor gave him, he could leave the palace and live a life of peace (though that may not be enough to protect him), which is what the cooking is referring to (still trapped in the cauldron).

“I’m too selfish to have you stay and accompany me,” Zhou Jing murmured. “Do you still hate me regarding Elder Prince Brother’s death?”

Li Xu straightened up. His eyes were full of tears as he said, “I don’t hate you. I can understand you.”

When they were young, they thought they could control the desire for power. In the end, they were all manipulated by such desire.

“I… I’m sorry… After all… I…” Zhou Jing slowly closed his eyes. The breath of life gradually dissipated as he suddenly shouted, “A’Xu… A’Xu. It’s so dark here… I’m so scared…”

Time had suddenly returned to that year when he was young and was locked in that dark room by Empress Xiao. The young Li Xu secretly handed him a candle from the window. No one knew, even Li Xu didn’t remember, that day when he sat crying in the corridor outside the Empress’ palace. He met a well-dressed young man. The young man asked why he was crying.

Li Xu, through sobs, said, “I want candles, but father-in-Law Zhao won’t give them to me.”

When the young man heard this, he smiled and said, “Is that all?” As he said this, he turned his head and asked the people around him to bring him a bunch of candles.

None of them knew back then that that young man was the Crown Prince Zhou Ying.

A loud shrill voice from an eunuch wailed, “The emperor is dead!”

The people in the hall burst into tears. He Lanbi led the young prince into the inner chambers and saw Li Xu kneeling on his knees under the dragon couch.

—

“Cut!” Guo Rui wiped away tears, stood up and said, “Okay, this one pass. Good work everyone!”

The actors in the hall immediately coaxed them up. They had been kneeling for so long in the freezing temperatures. While everyone was whispering to each other as they stood up, Shen Jintai was still in the inner chambers, lying on the ground. He remained there as his shoulders shook while he sobbed sorrowfully.

The plot didn’t allow him to cry. He had endured it for too long, and soon all his emotions were released, and he couldn’t hold back his tears.

Mrs. Yan didn’t feel anything at first, but when she saw Shen Jintai crying, her tears immediately fell.

Yang Lizhi went over and patted Shen Jintai on the shoulder. Bai Qingquan also sat up from the couch. He glanced at Shen Jintai, who was lost in his emotions as tears began to slide down his face. He jokingly said to the director, “Director, if you don’t give Li Xu a good ending, I won’t be happy in death.”

He got off the couch, pulled Shen Jintai up, and gave him a hug.

The feelings between Zhou Jing and Li Xu were much deeper and more complicated than Jintai Qiongying. They had supported, argued, and split from each other. In the end, they still tacitly understood each other, were beholden to each other, loved each other, and shared a common dream.

“I don’t think Li Xu will survive.” Shen Jintai said through his tears to the director.

His fate had come to an end. There was no one left for him. The ones who loved him and the people whom he loved were all dead. Only those that wanted him to die were left. His life had become meaningless. There was nothing to look forward to except death.

Yan Qiuchi’s emotions were stirred by seeing Shen Jintai’s crying heart. He was moved beyond belief. Since he chased The East Palace, he could truly appreciate what Shen Jintai was feeling at the moment.

Shen Jintai was really a good actor. His career would be long and bright in the future.

This was the last scene before Chinese New Year’s. It was Bai Qingquan’s death scene and Shen Jintai’s birthday. The crew gathered around with flowers. Bai Qingquan couldn’t help but hug Shen Jintai again, then released him and gave him a smile.

Shen Jintai’s eyes were still red. The director said, “Today is not only the day of our emperor Qingqing’s death, but also Shen Jintai’s birthday. We’ve discussed it and decided to give you a big gift.”

After the director said that someone was coming in pushing a cart with a cake on it. The man was wearing a baseball cap and had a handsome smile. It was Zheng Siqi. Shen Jintai, who was still affected by the scene, burst into tears as soon as he saw him.

Shen Jintai, who was always confident, had suddenly become vulnerable at the sight of Zheng Siqi, just as if Li Xu had seen Zhou Ying. If Zhou Ying were still alive, Li Xu’s life would be a different story.

Mrs. Yan was also too deep in the drama. When she saw Zheng Siqi, she immediately said to Yan Qiuchi beside her, “Look. A perfect match.” The size, age, and appearance were all comparable.

Zheng Siqi went up and gave Shen Jintai a hug. Shen Jintai was still in Li Xu’s costume, giving the illusion that he was Li Xu himself. When he leaned on Zheng Siqi’s shoulders, it was like he was fully giving away his trust, both mentally and physically.

Yan Qiuchi thought silently and wistfully. If he had been in the drama, he would have been able to give Shen Jintai a hug, hold him tightly, wipe away his tears, and comfort him with the gentle words of love.

---

The author has something to say:

Thank you all for your hard work in chasing the novel.

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Kinky Thoughts:

YOU GUYS. I CANNOT WITH THIS DRAMA. WHY DOES IT KEEP TUGGING AT MY HEART STRINGS!!! Ahhhhhhh!! Such a tumultuous relationship between the three of them. That childhood flashback WAS EVERYTHING!!! *sobs* *sobs* *sobs*.

Let me have the full novel of this drama, please! I don’t care if it’s dog blooded. I’m fully invested in it to have it abuse me to death!

Side note: Seeing how immersed these actors get into their roles reminds me of the novel <Caught in the Act>. It’s about an actor who also gets too involved in his role, shooting a gay film, that it eventually becomes too hard for him to separate reality from fiction and consequently falls for the other actor in the film. It’s an interesting read and I recommend it, especially if you like the showbiz genre.

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<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 公子于歌 / Gong Zi Yu Ge

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 61: Birthday Gift

Shen Jintai had been in several magazines before. Nowadays, his face could be seen wherever magazines were sold. Yan Yaoxuan stood in front of the newsstand, picked up two copies, and asked the owner, “How much?”

Yan Yaoxuan didn’t plan to return for Chinese New Year’s this year. He felt that if he returned to China, he wouldn’t be able to resist seeing Shen Jintai. He shouldn’t even bother thinking about his secret love. After his confession had failed, he didn’t even know how to face him.

For someone like him who had been abroad, it felt like everything had turned upside down in just half a year. When he came out of the airport, he saw Shen Jintai’s huge phone endorsement poster. Shen Jintai had a bright smile that exuded confidence. Yan Yaoxuan felt like he looked familiar yet unfamiliar. The instant he saw the poster, he felt his heart had revived.

Many of Shen Jintai’s endorsements were big brands that were widely distributed everywhere, especially in the city center. Billboards all over plastered his endorsements during New Year’s when there was a large flow of people. Yan Yaoxuan was sitting in the car as he gazed through the car window. He saw another Shen Jintai ad on the big screen that had his charming smile and gorgeous eyes. He looked down at his phone again. His screensaver was still the picture he took when he went abroad.

No news was leaked from Shen Jintai’s Haper’s Bazaar shot. It was announced directly without any advance notice. Relying on Shen Jintai’s current strong popularity, sales for the magazine were sold out in seconds.

Fang Yun originally wanted to buy one but wasn’t able to. She was so annoyed that she yelled, “Ahh” then quickly covered her mouth and secretly glanced at Yan Qiuchi’s office. She saw there was no movement inside and breathed out a sigh of relief.

Taking advantage that the day wasn’t busy, she hurriedly contacted her friends in her media circle: [Who has the latest issue of Harper’s Bazaar? I’m buying at a high price!]

As soon as she sent her text, she heard the sounds of heavy footsteps. She immediately stood up and saw several company executives open the door and walk out of President Yan’s office. It was near the end of the year, so their company had been extremely busy. The senior executives were in meetings all day long.

Thankfully, due to the high returns of <The East Palace is Coming>, Sunshine Media had over accomplished their goal, so the atmosphere for these meetings was relatively relaxed. The executives were all talking happily and laughing as they walked out.

Eventually, Yan Qiuchi came out with his coat on. Fang Yun thought she would be able to get off work early today.

Fang Yun: “President Yan.”

Yan Qiuchi nodded, walked in front of her, took two steps, then turned around and asked, “What gifts do you usually give to your friends for their birthdays?”

Fang Yun was stunned and immediately said, “Tell me the general situation, and I’ll go and help you prepare one.” People like Yan Qiuchi normally didn’t buy gifts on their own. This job was usually handed to their assistants. If it was an ordinary business partner, a lower-level assistant could handle the task. If it was someone more important, she or Gao Qiao would personally step in.

Yan Qiuchi replied, “No. I’ll buy it myself.”

Fang Yun was stunned again when she heard this. She asked, “Male or female?”

Yan Qiuchi: “Male friend.”

Fang Yun raised her head and stared at Yan Qiuchi. “What’s their age and their profession?”

Yan Qiuchi: “Twenties. Actor.”

Fang Yun’s heart jumped wildly. She had a guess as to who this person was, but she couldn’t believe it. Is it him? Could it really be?! The gossip in her heart was about to erupt. She coughed lightly and avoided her boss’s gaze and said, “How’s the relationship between the two of you?”

Yan Qiuchi asked, “Is it usually this troublesome to buy gifts?”

Fang Yun smiled and said, “There is a lot of meaning in giving gifts. It’s necessary to choose the right one depending on the person. Gifts given to friends versus close friends in general should be different since your connection to them is different.”

Yan Qiuchi: “What did you get your boyfriend for his birthday?”

What a straightforward question! Fang Yun could barely suppress her inner excitement. Boyfriend? What does this mean?! Oh my god! Am I dreaming?

She began to suspect the identity of the person Yan Qiuchi was thinking of. She raised her head, cleared her throat, made her voice sound as calm as possible, and said, “We celebrated my boyfriend’s birthday recently. I got him a watch.”

Yan Qiuchi put a hand in his trouser pocket and nodded as he left.

“Boss!” Fang Yun called from behind.

Yan Qiuchi turned his head, showing her sharp eyebrows and starry eyes. His tall figure made Fang Yun’s heart jump out of her throat when she looked at it. “Are you sure you don’t need me to get it for you?”

Yan Qiuchi: “No. You can leave work early today.”

Fang Yun watched Yan Qiuchi leave the office. She caved in to the excitement in her body and began stomping her feet. Her high heels made a few “click click click” noises. She immediately went online to confirm her suspicions. Sure enough, he was in his twenties and was an actor. If this wasn’t him, then it would be too much of a coincidence.

Fang Yun pondered whether she should tell her boss the meaning behind giving watches as a gift. She felt that he, who had never been in a relationship before, might not understand.

When Yan Qiuchi returned home, night had already fallen. Mrs. Yan and the household staff were sitting on the sofa admiring the beautiful pictures of Shen Jintai.

Mrs. Yan: “Qiuchi is back.”

Yan Qiuchi acknowledged with a “Nn” and then heard Mrs. Yan ask him with a smile, “Xiao Jin is on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar, did you know?”

Yan Qiuchi gave another “Nn” and said, “I know. “

“How did you know?” Mrs. Yan asked.

Yan Qiuchi smiled but didn’t answer her. He went upstairs, returned to his room, and found a Harper’s Bazaar magazine on the table.

The theme of Harper’s Bazaar’s photo shoot for Shen Jintai was “Youthful Flower Language”. Several photos were modest and fresh, matching the role of Li Xu. On the cover was Shen Jintai, wearing half-ancient, half-modern clothes. He had a rose in his hand. The picture was entirely black and white except for the golden sun and the pink rose.

Yan Qiuchi picked it up and stared at it for a prolonged amount of time. He then set it back on the table. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. He turned his head and said, “Come in.”

Mrs. Yan came in and gave him a beaming smile. “I put that magazine there.” Last time, during their dinner appointment, Mrs. Yan thought that her son had become tempted. It was obvious that his attitude towards Shen Jintai had changed remarkably. She had no doubts when she saw him check the temperature of Shen Jintai’s teacup and refill it. She had to do a double-take to make sure she wasn’t seeing things.

Who knew that, after so long, they had arrived at the starting point again.

“It’s pretty good-looking,” Yan Qiuchi said.

Mrs. Yan smiled and said, “This is a limited edition. As soon as it was announced on the official website, the website crashed. I couldn’t get one at all. I had to buy these through second-hand channels. Are you free? If you are, accompany me to visit the crew.”

“Are you going to visit the set?” Yan Qiuchi said. “The crew will have a holiday tomorrow.”

Mrs. Yan said, “How can I wait until tomorrow? Today is Jintai’s birthday.”

Shen Jintai’s birthday was easy to remember. He was born on the 29th, two days before Chinese New Year’s. Mrs. Yan said he had been born half an hour later, he would have been born on the 30^th.

“He’s turning 20*,” Mrs. Yan said. “I wanted to celebrate with him and give him a good time, but he said that the crew was in a hurry before the holiday and couldn’t ask for leave. Look at you. Did you forget his birthday?”

*Clarity: Technically, he’s supposed to be turning 21. The author previously mentioned that he was 20 (I’m leaning towards he forgot how old he made Shen Jintai).

“Let me change first,” Yan Qiuchi said.

Mrs. Yan chuckled and went downstairs.

Yan Qiuchi immediately took a shower and then headed into his cloakroom. He spent ages trying to pick out his clothes. He didn’t know what he should wear. It had been a long time since he had seen Shen Jintai. Near the end of the year, he was so busy that he didn’t even have time to chase <The East Palace is Coming>.

Mrs. Yan was waiting impatiently in the living room. She was about to ask the maid to go up and urge him when she saw Yan Qiuchi coming downstairs. He was wearing a black and gray coat that was wrapped around his formal wear. His hair was meticulously combed. He looked extremely well-dressed, exuding a dignified aura.

Mrs. Yan was very satisfied.

She had prepared gifts way in advance for Shen Jintai’s birthday. She felt that his 20^th was of great significance, especially for this particular year. She had planned to remind Yan Qiuchi a few days ago, but she wanted to see if Yan Qiuchi had developed feelings for Shen Jintai, so she held herself back. She wanted to see if he remembered on his own, but as a result, he actually forgot. It seemed like all of it may have been just her imagination.

Since these two had no intention for each other, there was no need for her to do more useless work. Being good brothers was good enough. After all, they were all her children.

“What did you buy?” Yan Qiuchi asked as he helped her carry gifts to the car.

“This is a cake,” Mrs. Yan said. “I got lessons from a pastry chef and made it myself.”

Yan Qiuchi had long been accustomed to his mother’s eccentricity. He didn’t speak any longer as he loaded all the gifts and the cake into the trunk.

“Whenever it was Xiao Jin’s birthday, Yaoxuan would be the most enthusiastic. This year, he actually said he wouldn’t be returning,” Mrs. Yan said while sitting in the car. “I sent a message to him yesterday, and he said he had some issues abroad and would be delayed for at least two more days.”

“It’ll be Chinese New Year in two days,” Mrs. Yan said. “I wonder if he has fallen in love over there. In the past six months, he’s been contacting home significantly less, and I don’t think his social media has been updated much.”

Shen Jintai himself didn’t have any special feelings about this birthday. He was too busy filming. His recent scenes showed him getting abused by the heroine. It had become a daily routine. His scenes filmed today, on his birthday, were particularly miserable. Zhou Jing, his biggest support, was also dying.

In general, palace fighting dramas were still mainly a woman’s drama. The winner in life, the last one standing, would be the heroine, He Lanbi.

She had defeated Zhou Jing’s empress and a group of his favorite concubines, finally succeeding in becoming empress herself. After Zhou Jing’s death, she became empress dowager and fought to the bitter end against Li Xu, who tried to instigate turmoil between her son, the young emperor, and her.

Today was also Bai Qingquan’s death scene.

When Yan Qiuchi and Mrs. Yan arrived on the set, the crew were filming nervously. The crew saw Mrs. Yan first and hurried over to greet her. Shen Jintai noticed the movement on the set, turned his head and saw Mrs. Yan with Yan Qiuchi behind her, walking from a distance.

Mrs. Yan didn’t let anyone disturb Shen Jintai. Guo Rui asked someone to move a chair and asked her and Yan Qiuchi to sit behind the monitor and watch. She saw a group of people kneeling on camera. Their clothes and shadows were illuminated as the candlelight reflected in the hall like it was day. Occasionally, there were sobs, as they began to look more solemn. Li Xu was kneeling outside the hall as Zhou Jing was lying on the couch in the inner chambers.

Empress He Lanbi wiped tears from her eyes and came out of the palace. She looked at the people kneeling in front of her until her gaze fell on Li Xu. Li Xu was silent as he got up and entered the inner chambers. When the two passed each other, He Lanbi frowned as she slightly turned around and gazed with her frigid eyes at his back.

Except for the sound of the camera running, there was only the sound of costumes rustling. Li Xu walked to the couch and knelt cautiously. Zhou Jing, on his sickbed, opened his trembling eyes. Tears fell with just a single look at Li Xu.

---

The author has something to say:

Countdown to <The East Palace is Coming>.

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Kinky Thoughts:

Get ready for more feels coming up.

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<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 公子于歌 / Gong Zi Yu Ge

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 60: Black Powder on the Face

Shen Jintai stared at Yan Qiuchi’s photo, trying to figure out the difference between him and the male protagonist. Why did everyone think that compared to Yan Qiuchi, he was the receiver when they saw him?

After a while of contemplating, he thought that their thoughts couldn’t be blamed. After all, this was a gentleman-type attacker that the author had spent a lot of time shaping. However, if they didn’t use Yan Qiuchi as a reference, he felt that he would be the more obvious attacker if it was between him and Bai Qingquan.

The mind determined the temperament, and he was resolutely an attacker, even if his physique currently didn’t resemble one. It was just not possible for him to be the receiver.

The filming for The East Palace would be finished in less than a month, and Shen Jintai’s schedule had been vacated. Qiu Hong, however, encountered difficulties. He couldn’t attract investment for the original version of the script. The original edition was a literary and artistic film that had warm and soft feelings and no explosive points.

Shen Jintai: “How much investment do you need?”

Qiu Hong: “About 20 million*.”

*At the time, this was a translated exchange rate of about $314,000 USD. It’s not that expensive when compared to the average indie film (though I’m talking from a US perspective).

Shen Jintai “What if I don’t take remuneration?”

Qiu Hong: “It’ll still be more than 10 million. The film is a chronological film that spans a long period of time, which makes it more expensive. If I produce this film, I still hope to make it an abstract* film.”

Clarity: The word used here is “textured”, which I have been using a lot in the previous chapters. I did some research, and this is what they mean when they say texture in films: All films have texture. Texture has an important sensory dimension; it expresses the feeling of something and thus evokes responses. It also encompasses broader expressions of quality and nature relating to the weaving of a cloth, a web, or a narrative. || In this context, he’s basically making an artistic film that evokes emotions more so than just for entertainment value (think all those literary films that premiere at Cannes).

Shen Jintai felt he could sponsor it if it was one or two million. However, 10 million was out of his range.

Now that Shen Jintai was popular, he could probably pull in investments using his name for <Welcome Rain on a Spring Night>. As the hottest actor in The East Palace, everyone was focused on what Shen Jintai’s next project would be.

“I was really impressed with Touhua. After he made a big hit, he chose a literary and artistic movie. It seems that he truly wanted to take the path of an actor.”

“The director of <Welcome Rain on a Spring Night> is Qiu Hong, who made <Yellow Flowers of Yesterday>. I quite like this new director. He seems to have won an award for his last film.”

“Although I admire Touhua’s choice, I am not optimistic. Look at Bai Qingquan. He followed up The East Palace with a modern idol drama. This is the wisest choice. Touhua needs to explode again to consolidate his position to continue to flow this year and overflow next.”

“Is <Welcome Rain on a Spring Night> the same plot your district was talking about? If so, I want to watch it. There should be a lot of passionate scenes. And Touhua’s figure, tut tut.”

“Touhua’s figure is really the best. He was broadcast last week laying on a bed with a loose-fitting shirt. I saw the barrage of all his fans complimenting him. Made me laugh to death.”

“If the barrage is on when The East Palace is showing Touhua without clothes, it’s almost impossible to watch. If <Welcome Rain on a Spring Night> is really the plot that we have seen before… My god, the flow of Touhua will explode.”

“As a passerby fan, I really don’t want him to take on this kind of meat-selling drama. Are his follow-up resources so abusive? There’s no other cake besides this movie?”

“Looking at it now, Touhua’s sexual orientation greatly affected his career. He was so crazy for love at the beginning, but the man didn’t want it and it had impacted his career. I wonder if he regrets it now.”

“Lost east, reaped mulberry*. If he doesn’t like men in reality, how can Li Xu’s character become so popular? The audience is divided. The character filters that Li Xu brought him were terrifying, which directly contributed to his comeback against the winds.”

*(失之东隅收之桑榆) Metaphor meaning initially lost or temporarily lost in one aspect but was compensated in the end.

Xiao Qi was an extremely determined black powder. Her aversion to Shen Jintai wasn’t diluted at all by Li Xu’s role. On the contrary, seeing Shen Jintai getting more popular made it more unbearable for her that she couldn’t even eat. She would blacken him on Weibo, TikTok, and forums whenever she caught an opportunity.

“It’s a bit of an exaggeration to say that his comeback is against the wind,” she replied. “Who doesn’t know how much Monsoon Entertainment loves to hype and how much he himself loves to hype? If he was really popular, his follow-up resources wouldn’t be so abusive. He would be able to secure reliable film and television resources. It’s just there was nothing better for him. <Welcome Rain on a Spring Night> is most suitable for him. Sell it, show it, charm it, that baby knows best.”

Unfortunately, the Shen Jintai of today was no longer the easily blackened Shen Jintai of the past. He had countless gold powders with fierce combat power. Xiao Qi was immediately scolded so badly that she cried while holding her phone.

Those groups of mean maidservants, those groups of idiots! Why are they so angry with her?

She retaliated by posting a lot of moving pictures of ghosts and animals doing the “head flower dance” in a row, but no one was surprised by the meme anymore. A while ago, moonlight powders and plum powders were dissatisfied that Shen Jintai had absorbed all the heat of The East Palace alone, so they jointly besieged gold powders and issued waves of the meme. After surviving that wave, it became old news.

The GIF of The East Palace where Shen Jintai’s clothes were torn off was more attractive than a lot of head-flower dances. What was more, Shen Jintai’s transformation was so thorough that everyone could truly see his changes. It didn’t make sense then to catch someone in the dark.

Xiao Qi opened a summary post of Shen Jintai’s black history in the Rabbit Area and the eight groups and posted it every other day, hoping it would cause a stink for Shen Jintai. She didn’t understand. Shen Jintai’s black history was all real. Such a disgusting person was so popular. What was the reason? Such a person’s popularity in the entertainment industry was simply a poison to this circle.

It must be because too many passersby didn’t know his black history. She wanted to popularize it so they could all join her in scolding Shen Jintai like the bitch that he was. She realized that she couldn’t do it alone.

Fortunately, as long as a star was hot enough, there was no shortage of black powders. Even if Shen Jintai was now sought after by a majority of people, there were more than a billion people in the country. As such, there would always be a group of haters.

Xiao Qi soon encountered these people, and together they established an official black fan group: [No matter where you’re from, as long as you hate Touhua, you’re our sister. You’re welcome to share blackspots, stone hammers, and ugly pictures of Touhua. Note: Don’t mention other artists in this group. Just focus on the blackspots of Touhua.]

The number of active black powders soon reached more than 300 people. They all brainstormed and felt that Shen Jintai’s acting skills and strength could no longer be blackened. His appearance was also improving drastically, so that couldn’t be used either. They decided then to ridicule his endorsements.

“As a star, to have an endorsement like this is an embarrassment to the word star.”

“Touhua still makes good movies. Seducing a married man is very suitable for him. It matches his real character.”

Xiao Qi had worked so hard that she became famous for the gold powders that even Shen Jintai had heard of her.

“If they didn’t know any better, people would think that I dug up her ancestral grave or something.” Shen Jintai said as he read her posts. He really couldn’t understand how two people who had never known each other in their lives had such a great hatred that they would chase him so crazily like this.

“Have I had a dispute with her before?” he asked Li Meilan. He recalled that his previous black history didn’t involve this person… Did it?

Li Meilan said, “Ignore it. The world is so big, and there are many lunatics. There are those who are empty inside or failures in the real world. Giving them attention will only cause resentment.”

Becoming popular was a double-edged sword. For the first time, Shen Jintai felt that so many people liked him, and likewise, he felt that many people he didn’t know hated him.

“When will the new endorsements be announced?” he asked.

Li Meilan said, “Two this week and two next week. xxx’s global endorsement is two days before New Year’s.”

Despite the show’s being on air for more than four months, his endorsement was late to come. The main reason was because of his poor image in the past. The well-known brands were still weary. Now, with The East Palace’s success, they came in droves.

The later global endorsements were obtained by Monsoon Entertainment for him. This was the strongest. There had been many celebrities who had served as promotional ambassadors from Asia before, but he was the first to be a global endorser from Asia.

Shen Jintai nodded.

Xiao Tang said, “When the time comes, slap this person hard in the face and make them swell. Brother Jin, don’t be angry. The blacker we are, the redder we’ll be. Just think about it. They get angry whenever they see you, and one day you’ll be seen everywhere. Wouldn’t that be funny?”

It really was. Even if they didn’t understand him, they would never get rid of him.

Shen Jintai found that it wasn’t only the love of fans that could motivate him, but black powders could influence him to work harder as well. He wanted to become popular everywhere.

His stint at The East Palace was coming to an end as his popularity reached its peak. Two high-end luxury endorsements and two national brands were announced consecutively. At the beginning of New Year’s, Shen Jintai debuted in the January issue of Harper’s Bazaar as the global spokesperson for xxx.

Xiao Qi cried angrily for an entire day. She went out to buy deep-fried dough sticks. She waited in line for a long time with her arms crossed. When she got her dough stick, she realized the owner gave her one less egg.

She was in a bad mood, so she scolded the owner angrily. The customer next to her pulled her aside and said, “Sometimes people are busy and forget. It’s only one egg less. You have to be forgiving.”

“Fuck your mother*!” Xiao Qi flushed angrily, grabbed her deep-fried dough sticks and left. She turned her head to see the newsstand next to her, and a magazine was placed on it. Shen Jintai was on the cover. A red scarf was wrapped around him as he was looking up, smiling brightly at the falling snowflakes.

*[Cao ni ma] (肏你媽) Refers to grass mud horse (alpaca). Play on word for the mandarin words cao ni ma which means fuck your mother.

The big characters on the cover showed: [The Phoenix returns*, the scenery is just right.]

*Nirvana returns/rebirth = Usually refer to the Phoenix Nirvana. In legends, the phoenix is the messenger of happiness. Every 500 years, it will bear all unhappiness, hatred, and grievances accumulated in the world and throw itself into a raging fire, burning itself to death in exchange for peace and happiness. It is then reborn into a better body after going through tremendous pain and hardship. || This basically portrays Shen Jintai’s comeback after his fall.

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The author has something to say:

There is really this kind of crazy black powder in reality.

To deal with this kind of black powder is to fight hard.

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Kinky Thoughts:

As I said before, I don’t really understand the mindset of haters/black powder. Sure, I have celebrities I dislike, and mind you, their actions are way worse than anything past Shen Jintai ever did, but I don’t make it my mission to actively hate and post hateful stuff about them. Like most normal people, I just ignore them, don’t buy/listen/support their products, and move on with my life.

The best way to show your dislike of a celebrity? Don’t support them. Crazy how some people can’t wrap around that concept. It’s much harder to actively hate someone than to just not think about them.

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 公子于歌 / Gong Zi Yu Ge

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

---

Chapter 59: Who Attacks and Who Receives

Yang Lizhi didn’t expect her worries to become a reality in the end.

One month after Jintai Qiongying went offline, Jintai Meijing* replaced it as soon as the scene of the jade pendant that Zhou Jing repaired for Li Xu was . Having shared more screen time together, the bond shown became deeper and the momentum for the CP gradually grew.

*Clarity: Jintai (金台) represent Shen Jintai. Mei (美) represents beauty, what Bai Qingquan is known for. Jing (璟) the character Zhou Jing that Bai Qingquan plays, thus putting it all together makes Jintai Meijing.

The male protagonist who was originally paired with Yang Lizhi’s character was snatched away by Li Xu… That little eunuch. She had so many scenes as the heroine, but her sense of existence couldn’t keep up.

The East Palace had become Li Xu’s home court.

Since the drama was a simultaneous film and broadcast, the plot could be adjusted according to the audience’s opinions and feedback. The role of Li Xu shone so brightly that he became a classic character on everyone’s screen for the year. The screenwriter, Meng Xiaosheng, started to add more scenes with him. Although they didn’t overwhelm Yang Lizhi’s heroine role, Meng Xiaosheng had given Li Xu all the brilliant scenes.

Yang Lizhi didn’t know whether Meng Xiaosheng changed it because she wanted it or to cater to the audience. The differences in the later stages between The East Palace and the original work were growing wider, and the book fans began to protest. Unfortunately, they pale in number in comparison to the drama fans, so their voices were ignored. The most significant change that Meng Xiaosheng made was the relationship between Li Xu and Zhou Jing. Their ties became deeper and their feelings more complicated.

“Cut!” Guo Rui stood up. “Zhou Jing, your emotions aren’t in place. Do it again.”

Bai Qingquan wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, eased his emotions, nodded solemnly, took another step back, and then suddenly made a pause gesture and walked to the director.

“Director, how on earth should I play this part?” Bai Qingquan said. “I’m not sure what kind of feelings I should have for Li Xu. Is it love, brotherhood, or master and slave? I feel confused myself that I can’t grasp this feeling.”

Shen Jintai: “The feelings between Zhou Ying and Li Xu are pure and direct. On the other hand, the feelings between Zhou Jing and Li Xu are unclear and murky. This current ambiguous emotion is what you should be feeling.”

Bai Qingquan glanced at Shen Jintai next to him, pursed his lips, and remained silent. They reshot the scene again, but it was still no good.

Guo Rui was a director who usually didn’t direct emotions. Such a director allowed actors a lot of creative space, which was particularly beneficial for someone like Shen Jintai. However, for someone like Bai Qingquan, it made it difficult for him to act. Guo Rui felt that his current actions were specious.

<The East Palace is Coming> was scheduled for 40 episodes. In the last few episodes, the heroine had become Empress Dowager*. With more than 30 episodes already filmed, there wasn’t many episodes left that starred him. His role had diminished as the ending got closer. Today’s scenes were one of the few highlights he had left, and it was between Zhou Jing and Li Xu.

*Queen regent. They held regency during the reign of an underage emperor. || This signifies that Zhou Jing (assuming he was emperor and she was his empress) had passed away and his heir was too young to inherit the crown.

The director was still not satisfied despite multiple reshoots, which frustrated Bai Qingquan. He went to RV to take a break. Shen Jintai tied the corner of his robe to his waist and followed Bai Qingquan in.

“What does Director Guo want?” Bai Qingquan said to Shen Jintai, “He keeps saying my mood isn’t right.”

Shen Jintai sat down on the opposite side, smiled, and said, “Let’s talk and have a look.”

Bai Qingquan took a sip of water and picked up the script. “What do you think went wrong with my performance just now?”

“I thought it was pretty good, but it may not have reached the feeling that the director wanted,” Shen Jintai said. “It’s okay. We’ll work out the kinks.”

Bai Qingquan and Shen Jintai have been filming together for almost a year now. They had developed a very serious attitude when it came to work. Bai Qingquan took the script and said, “You used to kill people and I would turn a blind eye. I even supported you from behind the scenes because our interests were aligned. However, you killed someone that I wanted to use, but I was unable to due to my identity, and it was also a member of the crown princess’ mother’s family, which violated my interests. In my opinion, you overstepped your boundaries. However, due to our relationship, when I gave you orders at the beginning, it should be amiable, right? Later, when you didn’t listen to my persuasion, I had to be more coercive and eventually had to bring up Zhou Ying, causing a dispute between us to break out. This should be emotional progress, right?”

Shen Jintai nodded. “When it comes to Zhou Ying, it’s certain that emotions will erupt. These feelings we both have have been ignored for all these years. You should regard me as your most important person, but you still retain the concept of master and slave in your bones. This is the biggest difference between you and Zhou Ying. You couldn’t understand and would never understand the relationship between Prince Ying and me. Because of this, you feel jealous, but it’s not the jealousy between lovers.”

“He should be a bit confused like a straight man?” Bai Qingquan said with a frown. “He should be a person who doesn’t understand love. He just thinks that the relationship you had was like a tryst. There shouldn’t have been deep feelings that you’re unable to let go of. The two of us have trusted each other since we were young and supported each other up until now. He must have felt betrayed and aggrieved. I think after the dispute, he should have a little sense of love without knowing what it was. Showing this kind of emotion would be beautiful, but the director doesn’t seem to accept my acting.”

“What if we use a prop or something in order to express this emotional ambiguity?” Shen Jintai thought for a bit, then suddenly an idea popped in his head. He took out the jade pendant from his waist. “We can use this. You can still act emotionally…”

“Put it around your waist,” Bai Qingquan said hurriedly. “I’ll catch sight of it, try to bear it but be unable to, and then burst out.”

When actors felt right about a scene, they tended to become excited. The tone between them surged with enthusiasm as they prepared to enact the scene in the RV. This allowed the two of them to learn many things. Director Guo came and knocked on the door and said, “Why don’t the three of us sit down and talk?”

“We had just discussed the scene,” Bai Qingquan said excitedly. “Let’s do it again and see if it’s okay.”

When Shen Jintai got out of the car with him, Bai Qingquan couldn’t help but drag Shen Jintai by the shoulder. The joy of work made his affection for Shen Jintai soar. This was the joy he felt when he filmed with Shen Jintai.

As they were halfway to the set, Bai Qingquan suddenly found that the kind of posture was a bit girly. It was like he was holding onto his boyfriend’s arm.

Shit! He almost exposed the truth of his suffering.

He immediately let go of Shen Jintai as his face turned red. He nervously glanced around. Fortunately, no one noticed him. Shen Jintai shook his arms and said, “Why let go? It’s warmer this way.”

Bai Qingquan thought Shen Jintai might be flirting with him. For a moment, his expression looked a little… gong-ish. He couldn’t believe that he felt a person who played such a good role as a little eunuch could exude such gong aura. He must have been holding himself back for too long!

Shen Jintai felt a little lost. Just now, Bai Qingquan held his arms and had such an elated look. This made him enjoy the feeling of attacking. There was nothing more exciting than Bai Qingquan’s uncontrollable dependence on him.

The weather was extremely cold, nearing the end of December. Bai Qingquan took off his down jacket and said to Shen Jintai, “Let’s try to clear it this time.”

Shen Jintai tied up the jade pendant and nodded at him.

“Come on, get ready to start.”

With the previous few experiences, coupled with the adjustments made by the two of them, the filming this time was better than the previous few times. At the end of the shot, Bai Qingquan looked up at Shen Jintai. He felt he could see his feelings reflected in his eyes.

For a single moment, he felt that Zhou Jing had love for Li Xu, although it wasn’t the same as Zhou Ying’s pure, equal love.

“Cut!”

Director Guo stood up. “This one has passed.”

The scene wasn’t easy. Everyone applauded as Shen Jintai let go of Bai Qingquan. He saw that Bai Qingquan was still crying. Bai Qingquan smiled and said, “I originally wanted to stop my tears, but after thinking about it, Zhou Jing was originally a man who only shed tears in front of Li Xu.”

“Your performance is very good. I was deeply moved.” Shen Jintai said.

Bai Qingquan: “I think there is no winner in our drama except for the heroine.”

Shen Jintai chuckled. “It’s true.” He pulled Bai Qingquan up, and the two discussed the scene they had acted in just now.

“The two of them have a good sense of CP,” The assistant director said.

Guo Rui said, “It’s only right to have a sense of CP. The two of them were originally ambiguous.”

“As soon as this scene is broadcast, Jintai Meijing’s popularity will only rise.”

The assistant director also felt that Li Xu had become the invisible heroine of this drama.

This part of their shot was broadcast in January.

Although the old emperor was still in power, he had been confined to the palace on the grounds of recuperating from his illness. This world was already the world of Zhou Jing, and it just needed time to be justified.

At this time, Li Xu moved into the house of the crown princess’ mother.

“I told you to stop. This is an order, not a discussion!” Zhou Jing was slightly annoyed. He then eased his tone. “The Tian family has done a lot for me. If you move against them, you’ll break one of my arms. A’Xu, now that the overall situation has settled, we don’t need to kill more people.”

Li Xu: “The Tian family is only powerful now that there are almost no families that can contend with them. The crown princess had just given birth to her first son. Instead of waiting for your future foreign relatives to gain more power, it’s better to trim it as soon as possible and kill Tian Wenhao.”

Zhou Jing: “You don’t need to prevaricate me with these high-sounding reasons. The reason you want to kill Tian Wenhao, isn’t it because he participated in the framing of Elder Prince Brother?”

Hearing this, the white-haired Li Xu frowned slightly. “If Your Highness thinks so, this slave has nothing to say.”

“Don’t touch Tian Wenhao or anyone in the Tian family,” Zhou Jing warned. “Otherwise…”

Li Xu: “Otherwise, will your highness kill me?”

“I know you’re not afraid of death,” Zhou Jing said. “You also know that I will not kill you, so you are unscrupulous.”

Li Xu: “Why? Is it just because before he died, he begged you to take care of me?”

Zhou Jing paused then said, “A’Xu, your eyes always redden when you kill people. But no matter how many people you kill, he won’t come back.” He pursed his lips tightly and glanced back. From Li Xu’s white hair, he saw the jade pendant hanging around his waist. He stared at the pendant for a long time before turning his head away. “I’m going to be emperor. Being an emperor is different from being a prince. I cannot let you kill people.”

“It’s not that Your Royal Highness can’t let me kill people, it’s that you can’t let me kill people who are still useful to you,” Li Xu said lightly. “You don’t need to kill anymore. My life will eventually meet its end.”

Zhou Jing: “Is that what you think? Do you think you are just a knife in my hand?”

“No. I’m my own knife. A knife only I can wield,” Li Xu said. “A knife that no longer have feelings and just wants to kill.”

“Kill Tian Wenhao?! Who else do you want to kill? Me?!” Zhou Jing walked up to him. “I, too, was involved. Will you kill me for him?”

Li Xu didn’t speak. Zhou Jing suddenly became angry, stretched out his hand and pinched his chin, forcing him to raise his head. “Look at me and answer!”

Li Xu said, “You said you weren’t…”

Zhou Jing: “What if I was?”

Li Xu’s expression, which had always been cold, suddenly became rich in color. His breathing became a little quicker, and he said, “Why?”

Zhou Jing: “Why? You actually asked me why? I always wanted him to die. Didn’t you know? Or have you forgotten why I sent you to him in the first place?”

Li Xu: “But you promised me that you would only pull him off the seat of crown prince. As long as you become the crown prince, you will spare his life. He is different from you. He doesn’t have the country in his heart.”

Zhou Jing: “Just because he said so, you believed it?”

“I believe it,” Li Xu said categorically.

The sentence “I believe” set Zhou Jing’s eyes ablaze. “You believe everything he says!”

“Because he has never lied to me. The only time he did was to convince me to live well.” Li Xu, who was usually calm, suddenly lost control. His breath was anxious as his eyes were red.

“I believe what you said once,” Zhou Jing said. “I believe in you so much. There are so many people in this palace, my father, my wife, and my children. I only believe in you. Now, I don’t even have the last person I can trust, and you have long stopped trusting me.”

Zhou Jing sat down helplessly. “I did not kill Elder Prince Brother. I even tried to save him for you, despite the fact that it should be obvious I would be the last person to save him. I simply said that I was involved, and you instantly believed.” There was an almost imperceptible choking in his voice.

Li Xu remained silent. He walked over and hugged him. Zhou Jing leaned his head into his arms and said, “I have everything, yet why am I not happy? It was better to be locked in that dark room with you when we were young. We sat on the ground and thought about what tomorrow would be like. I said I wanted to be the emperor, and you said you wanted to be the chief eunuch. We thought about the future, and the two of us laughed. Laughing… In that dark room where our eyes couldn’t see, but our hearts were so bright.”

He raised his head and looked at Li Xu. “It’s not that I won’t let you kill Tian Wenhao. He is the father of the crown princess and perhaps the grandfather of the future emperor. If you kill him, have you ever thought about what you will do in the future? I’m not in good health. I don’t know how many years I can last. What should you do? You are bent on dying, but I don’t want you to die. We have paid so much to fight for this country. I want you to be a master and live well. A’Xu, can you understand?”

—

“I, a former BaiJin CP fan, after watching tonight’s episode, have something to say in my heart.”

“Is the era of Jintai Meijing coming? I feel that the male lead was suddenly whitewashed tonight!”

“Hahahaha, I laughing to death. Turns out this TV series is where the male and female protagonists need to rely on the villain to whitewash!”

“This Jintai Qiongying girl isn’t convinced. Is my prince dead or not? The crew will come out and give me an explanation! If the prince doesn’t come out, the fans will have to climb the wall!”

“Touhua is holding the heroine’s script, right? Bai Qingquan’s script is similar to that of the obsessed second male lead who knows that the heroine loves other men and still silently guards his feelings*!”

*Clarity: He’s saying Zhou Jing’s character is like the second male lead in those romance dramas that love the heroine but know she loves someone else, so he guards his feelings.

“I actually like their ambiguous scenes that are like friends and enemies, but when I think that the two of them are rivals in reality, it makes me feel fascinated and weird.”

“Are they still rivals? I haven’t heard any news about unpleasant things between the two of them despite filming together for this long.”

“Some time ago, it was rumored that the two of them were fighting in the dressing room to grab the same makeup artist.”

“Can you believe this kind of material? They all have their own makeup artist. Besides, they’re not newcomers. Even if they really are at odds, they won’t show it to the public.”

“I still think that Touhua and Zheng Siqi have a stronger sense of CP. Bai Qingquan… how to put it. He’s so beautiful. If they are hugging each other, I can’t tell who’s attacking and who’s receiving!”

“Hahahahahahahaha!”

“Bai Qingquan is a straight man inside and outside the drama. Touhua receives both inside and outside the drama!”

“Is Touhua receiving?”

“He chased Prince Yan outside the drama. What do you think?”

Someone immediately posted a photo of Yan Qiuchi.

“…It seems that there is no doubt that Touhua is receiving.”

Shen Jintai was very depressed after seeing these remarks. “Laozi is attacking! Attacking!”

When will everyone realize this? He didn’t want to be classified as a sister* to Bai Qingquan. How would he be able to attack him!

*Clarity: He doesn’t want to be classified as a shou (sister) by Bai Qingquan or else he won’t be able to attack him. Every shou needs a gong, not another shou.

Since Bai Qingquan put extra effort into this scene because he thought it was a very important scene for Zhou Jing, he paid careful attention to the internet surrounding it. When he saw the comments, he couldn’t help but feel depressed.

He wanted to say, “I’m not a straight man. I’m a fairy*!”

*Clarity: He’s actually using the word fairy [xian nu] (仙女) in this case. Fairy is also a reference to a gay person who is more on the feminine side (it’s usually used derogatorily, like calling someone a sissy), but in this case it matches Bai Qingquan’s given personality. In previous chapters, when he’s referred to as a fairy/fairy-like it’s using [shen xian] (神仙). This term isn’t so much referring to a fairy in the literal sense, but more so that they are so beautiful that it transcends humankind and can only be comparable to a god/immortal/fairy/celestial being ect. I used fairy as it matches Bai Qingquan’s girlish personality.

---

The author has something to say:

Yan Qiuchi sitting on a cold beach: the real attack is here.

---

Kinky Thoughts:

Oh God, this drama is torturing me! It’s breaking my heart! SO MUCH FUCKING DOG BLOOD… … … but I live for it.

Bai Qingquan is so fucking cute. I stan.

Fuck it. I’m all on board this BaiJin ship. It’s going down like the Titanic, but I won’t abandon this ship!!! Sorry Yan Qiuchi… You can stay stuck in the crematorium for all I care!

On another note: I find it hilarious that Shen Jintai is still insistent on thinking he’s a gong lol. Have he looked at his rewards?! Those are fucking things a perfect shou needs!

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<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 公子于歌 / Gong Zi Yu Ge

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 58: Is he the Heroine?

Shen Jintai felt overwhelmed with emotions after not hearing Xiao Ai’s voice for so long.

Shen Jintai: “You’re finally back!”

Xiao Ai: “Kiss~”

It was truly Xiao Ai. So much cuter than Xiao Mei, who was as cold as a corpse.

“I’m sorry. I promised to take a week off, but it took longer to come back,” Xiao Ai said. “When Xiao Ai was away, my dear, you received the hair and flushing reward. Congratulations!”

“I just got my hair not long ago, but when it comes to the flushing reward, I have been embarrassed to ask Xiao Mei.” Shen Jintai hurriedly asked, “What the hell is this flushing reward?”

Xiao Ai giggled and said, “The reward for flushing, as the name suggests, is that when you are emotional, your body will flush. This includes, but not limited to the ears, face, chest, toes, ect.”

I knew it!

Shen Jintai: “What in blazes is this kind of reward? I’m a gong! What use are these to me?!”

“Dear, I have to criticize your old-fashioned feudal thinking again,” Xiao Ai said. “Who stipulates that men can’t be lewd? Who stipulates that men can’t be sensitive? Regardless of whether men or women, gong or shou, as long as they can give each other a more intense response, wouldn’t this be a good thing?”

Shen Jintai: “Then what is my next reward? I remember it was a sexy reward.”

Xiao Ai: “Xiao Ai will take a look for you. It’s either sensitivity or killer ankles.”

Why is sensitivity there again?

“Ankles! Ankles! I chose ankles!”

“Alright. Xiao Ai has made note of it. But Dear, Xiao Ai disturbed you late at night because Xiao Ai has something important to tell you.”

“What’s the matter?”

“It has been detected that the love between the male protagonist and Bai Yueguang has reached a freezing point not long ago. My dear, your task is almost halfway completed! Congratulations.”

“Ah?” Shen Jintai’s face was full of question marks. “What did I do?”

He felt that he hadn’t done anything recently besides Bai Yueguang’s favorability for him explicably rising, which gave him multiple rewards. If it wasn’t for Xiao Mei’s cold and indifference attitude that didn’t show any favoritism towards him, he would’ve suspected the system had let him in through the backdoor.

He hadn’t taken any action recently, but suddenly the possibility of love between the male lead and Bai Yueguang had reached a freezing point. What did this mean?

Did it mean that Bai Qingquan had already developed feelings for him?

“In short, as long as it is determined that the male protagonist and his official match will never be together in this lifetime, you will receive your ultimate reward and live freely in this world. At that time, Xiao Ai will no longer appear in front of you, and you can live like a normal person.”

“Then I won’t be able to see you anymore?”

“Kiss~ there’s no such thing as an everlasting banquet.”

“Actually, I have a question,” Shen Jintai said. “My task is to steal away the protagonist’s official match, but Bai Yueguang is not the only superb beauty in this world. It’s impossible for an exquisite man like Yan Qiuchi to remain a virgin forever. He will eventually fall in love.”

Treating the symptoms didn’t cure the root cause*.

*Clarity: Shen Jintai is saying the original goal is to stop Yan Qiuchi from falling in love and going all sex-crazy with his white moonlight. Problem is, even if he succeeds, it won’t Yan Qiuchi fall in love with someone else and then become sex-crazy anyways.

“Dear, you may not understand our working mechanism. You see, the world you live in now is actually a different dimension of the real world. Besides the male protagonist, there are numerous other men similar to him. Yet why do we target his sex life and not others? It’s because they are not mentioned in this book. We are only responsible for changing the standards of the original novel. As for whether the outcome causes different plot points to pop up, or whether the current plot exceeds the standards, those are not within our scope of work*.”

*Clarity: He’s saying the system is only focused on changing Yan Qiuchi because he’s the protagonist in the novel <Everyone Loves Bai Yueguang>. Whether this change makes him better, still sex crazed (for someone else), causes the plot to go in a totally different direction, that’s not within the system’s scope of work.
*A side note: The author has written several novels within this universe. What Xiao Ai is hinting at here is that there are other similar situations happening in this world to other leads, one being this novel: After Reverse Transmigration, I became the Four Arch-Enemies’ White Moonlight. It’s a different book, but I think it’s still in the same alternate dimension as the setting of this one. Funnily enough, Xiao Ai is also the system in that novel, which I think confirms that this world is basically a setting for all the novels the system wants to “fix”.

So it turns out to be like this.

“Alright, it’s getting late. Xiao Ai will go offline first.”

“Can you accompany me to the end of the mission?” Shen Jintai said. “Your colleague Xiao Mei is too cold.”

Xiao Ai said, “His personality is like that. Knowing that you’re not satisfied with his service, he’s very depressed. I had to comfort him for a long time. Dear, victory is in sight! Xiao Ai also hopes that you can live freely and brightly in this new world. Good luck! Beep.”

Xiao Ai went offline.

Shen Jintai let out a long sigh. He lay down again, turned off the light, and looked at the hazy snow that was falling outside his window. While lying down, a thought suddenly came to his mind.

The relationship between Xiao Ai and Xiao Mei may not be so simple. There’s a clear distinction between the gong and shou.

What a crazy world he lived in.

—

It snowed heavily overnight, and the city looked like a world of glass wrapped in silver. The first speck of sunlight caused the snow to glisten in people’s eyes. Shen Jintai had just arrived at the film and television city. As he got out of the RV with sunglasses on, he saw Bai Qingquan had already arrived and his RV was next to his.

Shen Jintai went over to say hello.

Bai Qingquan had a scene earlier than him today. He had already finished filming it and was currently hiding in the RV to keep warm. He was sitting down reciting his lines with a script in his hand.

Shen Jintai: “Morning.”

“Morning.” Bai Qingquan opened the RV door to let him in.

While taking off his sunglasses, Shen Jintai said, “It’s warm in your car.”

Bai Qingquan: “Did you receive today’s flying page?”

“No, I just arrived. What was added today?” Bai Qingquan handed him a piece of paper. He took a look at a short line and said, “Editor Meng is improving.”

It was a confrontation scene between him and Bai Qingquan. Bai Qingquan was very excited when he received this flying page because it was a rivalry scene between him and Shen Jintai. He liked acting together with Shen Jintai.

Shen Jintai smiled and looked at Bai Qingquan, who was dressed in an ancient costume. The light cast a faint yellow on him that made him look very fairy-like, as if he was covered with a misty aura.

After acting for a long time, this aura would combine with the characters, especially for those who have been filming the same series for a long time. As they continued to shoot, the more similar the actor’s temperament became to the character they were playing. Bai Qingquan was originally a fairy, but now he looked more like a prince in all his glory.

The filming of the drama had made tremendous progress with an experienced crew and increased motivation from the actors. Despite only 20 episodes having been broadcast so far, the content they had filmed was already up to 28 episodes.

After defeating the final prince, Zhou Jing was able to force his way to ascension. He was going to be the new emperor with Li Xu by his side, who became the chief eunuch.

“Your relationship with President Yan is very good now.” Bai Qingquan asked as he looked up.

Shen Jintai was caught by surprise. He then smiled and said, “There is no righteousness in buying and selling*, right?”

*(买卖不成仁义在) Means that buyers and sellers play a game on the transaction price. Although the transaction has not been completed, the relationship between each other still exists, so it will not affect the peace of this matter. From “Three Heroes and Five Righteousness”. || In this context, he’s basically saying they retain a cordial relationship (despite the past).

Bai Qingquan smiled, pinched the script with his slender fingers, and said, “I saw the news yesterday, and I thought you two got back together.”

“We’ve never been together, so you can’t really say we were getting back together.”

Shen Jintai recalled his conversation with Xiao Ai yesterday. He carefully observed Bai Qingquan, but he didn’t see any hints of Bai Qingquan liking him. This was the disadvantage of being such a fairy. Bai Qingquan always gave him smiles and spoke gently to everyone, so that he couldn’t tell who Bai Qingquan hated and who he liked.

Hearing his response, Bai Qingquan simply smiled. He then lowered his head and started to rub the corners of his script.

When Shen Jintai finished putting on his makeup and arrived on the set, Director Guo said, “You’re soaring again today.”

“I know.” Shen Jintai sat on a chair, smiled, and gave the director a thumbs up. “I just want to say, awesome.”

The surrounding staff laughed along. The crew’s atmosphere had become harmonious. Shen Jintai’s popularity had reached its peak; almost everyone on the crew loved him. He had a good temper, cracked jokes, and had a serious attitude towards his work. How could anyone dislike such an actor?

When they first started filming, they were shooting winter scenes in the summer. Now that it was winter, they were doing the complete opposite, shooting summer scenes. Before the filming started, Shen Jintai and Bai Qingquan took off their thick down jackets. Bai Qingquan shivered as he said, “It’s so cold.”

Shen Jintai smiled and handed the hand warmer to the assistant next to him.

In the big summer drama, they all wore luo yi. Because of his role, his clothes were thinner than Bai Qingquan’s, so he didn’t suffer as badly. Bai Qingquan needed people to fan him while in costume. Shen Jintai wanted to take a picture at that time but couldn’t get one.

When Bai Qingquan spoke, white puffs of air came out. It was too obvious for the recording, so they both had to drink iced water before reciting their lines. After the filming, they were both shivering from the cold. Shen Jintai also ate some ice cubes, which made his tongue completely numb.

After the filming, Bai Qingquan smiled and patted his shoulder, saying, “When work is over, I will treat you to hot pot.”

The two of them sat behind Director Guo to see the effect of the shot and watched from beginning to end.

“Very good, very good.” Shen Jintai said.

—

The relationship between Li Xu and Zhou Jing became more developed.

On the eve of preparing for his ascension, Zhou Jing came to Li Xu. The two talked about their preparations for tomorrow. After the discussion, Li Xu sent Zhou Jing out. When he returned, he saw a piece of the jade pendant on the futon where Zhou Jing had been sitting.

It was the double mandarin duck jade pendant that Zhou Ying left him. Though it had broken in half, he still kept it. Later, Zhou Jing confiscated it from him. When he took the pendant away, Zhou Jing told him, “You have to think clearly about why I keep you by my side. It’s not so you can reminisce about the person who you were with that this broken jade symbolizes.”

The pendant was now returned to him, but it was a complete piece. It had been repaired with gold inlays. Li Xu picked it up, put it in his hand, and caressed it. The pendant rotated and shook. A glimpse of gentleness appeared in Li Xu’s gloomy eyes. It quickly disappeared.

Li Xu’s and Zhou Jing’s relationship was complicated. There were feelings of childhood friends as well as master and slave. Li Xu relied on Zhou Jing to climb up, while Zhou Jing kept him close to comfort in his own heart, so he wouldn’t be alone when he reached the highest point. Li Xu was the only person he could trust.

But between them was Zhou Ying, who caused an irreparable rift. It was like this jade pendant. Broken in half, Zhou Jing had mended it with gold inlays. Though the cracks may be invisible, they all knew it was still there.

—

The pendant represented the intricate relationship between the three of them. Shen Jintai felt that this addition was very innovative.

The recent filming wasn’t too sadistic for Shen Jintai. His character would never cry again. As of the 28 episodes filmed so far, after the prince’s death, he didn’t get a single crying scene. He had many scenes of him abusing others before he eventually turned against the heroine and was abused by her.

The death of the crown prince that was broadcast last week stunned many people and caused many others to shed tears. Eventually, their grift turned to anger. Everyone was expecting Li Xu to kill the entire palace.

After Li Xu returned from the snow, he fell ill. On the verge of death, he was rescued by a doctor and recovered. In a thin robe, his face haggard, his eyes red, Li Xu started to write the names of his enemies on pieces of paper, one by one. This started his signature move of burning these pieces of paper* for Zhou Ying as each of his enemies died.

*In Chinese and some Asian cultures, you would burn fake money and other things to ensure that the spirit of the deceased has sufficient needs in the afterlife. In this case, Li Xu is burning the names of those he killed as a tribute to Zhou Ying.

The villain had now started to emerge. The scene had now switched from its love lenses to palace fighting mode, indicating <The East Palace is Coming> was gradually reaching its climax.

“My tears, let others shed them for me.” This was the classic, famous line from Li Xu.

“All these murderers who killed the crown prince. Torture them to death. Torture them to death.”

“Xiao Li Xu will keep attacking for you.”

“Is he really the villain?” Yang Lizhi asked her assistant. It felt like the whole country was on his side.

Yang Lizhi had been frightened recently. Because, according to the plot development, in the later stage, she, the heroine, would fight against the villain, and she would make Li Xu miserable and drive him crazy.

Oh god. She’s not going to be scolded to death by the audience, right?

It seemed as if Li Xu was the real heroine of this drama.

---

Kinky Thoughts:

LOL Shen Jintai just CPed Xiao Ai and Xiao Mei. Eyyy. I ship it too.

I love how Xiao Ai could always trick Shen Jintai:
Shen Jintai: “WTF are these rewards. I’m a GONG. I don’t need this bullshit reward!”
Xiao Ai: “No, no, no. Whether you’re a gong or not, these rewards benefit all!”
Shen Jintai: “What you say does make sense…” and thus the hole he’s digging gets deeper.

Regarding my side note on the novel: After Reverse Transmigration, I became the Four Arch-Enemies’ White Moonlight. The premise of the story is a little bit different. It’s actually one of the characters in the book who realizes that he’s a character in a book, and someone will be transmigrating into his body. As such, he decides to blacken 4 big shots (his potential gongs) so that when the host takes over, they’ll be faced with an inescapable situation of being crushed by the 4 he blackened… Unfortunately, fate doesn’t work like that, and the transmigration never happened so… Well, he’s kinda fucked now, right?

Xiao Ai is also the system in that novel (from the first few chapters that I’ve read).

Also, I find this system funny compared to other transmigration novels I’ve read. Usually systems are like “You got to stick to the plot”… This one is just “Eh… Yan Qiuchi cannot fall for his white moonlight. What happens after… we don’t care.”

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 公子于歌 / Gong Zi Yu Ge

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

---

Chapter 57: Disliked

“Touhua was surrounded by fans when he went for dinner!”

“I also saw the news. This situation looks familiar.”

“It was the same situation when he was eating with Bai Qingquan. At that time, he was the one shielding Bai Qingquan. A few people seemed to know him at that time. Also, a frightened Zheng Siqi was behind them too!”

“Hahahaha. The entertainment industry is really changing. If those three ate out together now, the ones who’ll be blocked would be Shen Jintai and Zheng Siqi. I feel that the popularity of those two is higher than Bai Qingquan’s now.”

“I just want to know who his bodyguard is. He’s so tall and handsome and looks so temperamental in that black coat!”

“I also noticed that person. With that head-to-body ratio and appearance, I feel that it’s not inferior to Touhua’s ratio!”

“You don’t even know him? He is Prince Yan, who has been entangled with Touhua for several years!”

“Shit, is it actually him? I’ve been listening to you talking about Prince Yan this and Prince Yan that, and I finally saw the real person. I know why Touhua was so fascinated by him. He is so fucking handsome, and his boyfriend aura is just bursting with power!”

“Touhua’s comeback this time, didn’t he draw a clear line with him? The tattoo has been washed off. Looking at this situation, is it going to happen again?”

“I was brainwashed by your district that said Shen Jintai was just a stalker, and Prince Yan was unmoved. Looking at this situation, why does it look like a concubine’s love*?”

*(郎情妾意) Refers to two people who have good feelings for each other.

“Touhua must persevere, and he must be ambitious. I just accepted him as my wall head*! If he’s mixed with Yan Qiuchi again, the gold powder can be completely removed this time!”

*Favorite star (out of all the stars the fan likes).

This incident didn’t make a lot of noise, but it caused an uproar on the gold powders’ side.

“Who is this man?! The picture I just swiped in the rabbit area said he was from the Yan family!”

“It’s really him… What’s going on, can anyone tell me?! As soon as I saw the two of them appear together, my hair stood up. Brother, you want to start this again?!”

“Don’t get too excited, everyone. It should be just a simple dinner, right?”

“Does anyone have any news?”

Immediately, a big fan contacted Xiao Tang. After Xiao Tang heard the news, he was so scared that he immediately called Li Meilan. Preventing Yan Qiuchi was like guarding against time. Li Meilan had told him that Yan Qiuchi was definitely the most terrifying hidden danger. She was afraid that Shen Jintai’s love would not be broken!

“What the hell is this?” Li Meilan looked at the screenshot sent by Xiao Tang.

Xiao Tang: “It’s not disinformation. There are videos taken by fans on the Internet.”

Li Meilan: “When I saw Yan Qiuchi, I was worried that this would happen. You wait for me to ask Jintai.”

She immediately called Shen Jintai, “You and Yan Qiuchi were photographed together?”

Shen Jintai was sitting on the sofa. He said, “Don’t worry. I’m about to post on Weibo.”

Li Meilan: “…Shen Jintai, you’re not going to post a Weibo that admits you’re in a relationship, are you?”

Shen Jintai “…Admit to a messy affair, ah? I’m not in a relationship. Even if I want to admit a relationship, it would be with Bai Qingquan.”

“…Your jokes are not comforting me.” Li Meilan walked back and forth in the room. “Seriously, what are you going to post?”

“I was thinking about how to deny the relationship without being straightforward and letting everyone understand that I have nothing to do with Yan Qiuchi.”

“The relationship between you and Yan Qiuchi is a sensitive topic. Don’t post it yet. We will discuss the wording with you.”

Li Meilan was treating this as a first-level security threat. She immediately called all the team members and went to Shen Jintai’s hotel room together.

Shen Jintai was sitting cross-legged on the sofa trying to explain to them the situation at the time. “I thought it was okay. I was recognized because I wasn’t cautious enough. Yan Qiuchi… He is an outsider. He may be a bit unaccustomed to this kind of situation, so his reaction was relatively strong. He also wanted to protect me, fearing that something would go wrong.”

Xiao Tang sat next to him with his cheeks propped up, watching repetitively the videos taken by fans. “Actually, there is no particularly intimate behavior…”

“It was a hug! How closer do you want it to be?” Li Meilan felt instant regret. “Honestly, after sending you over, I should have reminded you when I saw Yan Qiuchi. Do you know that the person that your fans hate the most isn’t your rival Bai Qingquan, but Yan Qiuchi?”

Shen Jintai: “Do you still think I like him?”

“50/50. Do you still like him?” Li Meilan asked.

“What do you think?”

Li Meilan said, “I think you should, probably, maybe dislike him.” Several other members of the team laughed.

“Unbelievable. You’re so familiar with me, yet you are not sure. I can understand that a netizen thinks it’s entirely possible that I’m still in love.” Shen Jintai’s tone didn’t have any sadness to it. It was as if he was talking about a pure stranger. “Why don’t I just post a direct message on Weibo then?”

“You are still filming a series under Sunshine Media and you may film other dramas under them in the future. When you post on Weibo, you have to pay attention to your wording. Don’t embarrass President Yan. It’s best not to mention his name at all. He probably doesn’t want rumors to spread between him and you anymore.”

Shen Jintai smiled. “Yes, he has probably had enough of it in the past two years.”

The team couldn’t drag Yan Qiuchi into the water* and couldn’t clearly express the situation. They discussed together for two hours and finally posted on Weibo.

*Can’t involve. || It’s saying they have to somehow clarify this situation without involving Yan Qiuchi, which makes it hard to do (since he is involved).

[I heard that first snow is the day of confession. Single dogs choose to relive the love between Li Xu and Zhou Ying on such a night.]

Attached was a picture of <The East Palace is Coming> being played on a phone.

—

“Sisters, have you seen Touhua’s Weibo? You consider yourself a single dog. Is this a denial of love?”

“I guessed a long time ago that he would deny it. Unless he was out of his mind when he just got popular and would eat grass*.”

*(吃回頭草) Refers to getting back together with an ex.

“Don’t put it so nicely. It seems that he can’t eat this grass even if he wants to eat it. Prince Yan has always refused, right?”

“This video evidence shows otherwise. There’s no way Prince Yan hates him.”

“The relationship between the two of them is really confusing, but Niu Hulu’s Touhua is no longer the Touhua of the past. He shouldn’t fall in love at this time.”

“He turned red by drawing a clear line with the past. If he and Yan Qiuchi get together, not only the gold powders but also the CP powders will jump ship. He wouldn’t dare.”

“If there’s something that Touhua dares to do, it’s to retire for love when he’s at his peak. In my opinion, he posted this Weibo to show that he really has no emotional entanglements with the eldest son of the Yan family. Touhua has always been relatively straightforward. You can turn crazy when you love, but you can also be clear-headed when you’re not in love.”

“He looks really attractive. He lives the life that many people want to live.”

“Hearing what you said makes me like him better.”

“I suspect this is just hype. His past relationship with Prince Yan is too infamous. Many people already suspect he set this up as part of his comeback. This is the first time he has publicly clarified it on Weibo. After this wave passes, many of his fans will become more at ease.”

“I’m also optimistic that he’ll gain another wave of fans this time. But having said that, this is the first time I have seen Prince Yan. He’s such a hottie.”

“The man who can make Touhua crazy, moonlight powders call him son-in-law Yan!”

As soon as this Weibo post was posted, the gold powders were relieved.

“This opportunity to become popular is so rare. My brother must be clear-headed, and I will wait for my brother to walk the flower road with all my heart!”

“Yes, Yan Qiuchi, please go away! My brother is beautiful alone!!!”

“Yes, don’t delay our Brother Jin from taking the flower road, okay?!”

“Brother, please focus on your career. What love! He’s just in his twenties!”

“I have no objection to my son falling in love. It is normal to fall in love when you get older, but Yan Qiuchi? NO WAY!”

“Really, I can accept anyone except Yan Qiuchi.”

“Didn’t moonlight powders all call him son-in-law Yan? Why don’t they hurry up and take away their son-in-law!”

—

He had dinner with Shen Jintai tonight and hugged him. This wasn’t a trivial matter. After Yan Qiuchi returned home, his mood remained uneasy. He didn’t know what was going on.

Hot water flowed down his hair, rolling down his face to his chin, then to his neck, as it pooled around his strong and tall shoulders.

Yan Qiuchi was a person who loved to play sports. His back muscles were smooth, his body was taut, and his lumbar region formed a nice gully showing explosive power. One hand lay on the bathroom mirror as he wiped the hot water off his face.

He had showered for what seemed like hours. He came out in a bathrobe, drank a glass of water, and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, opening the curtains. He saw heavy snow fluttering under the streetlights.

His phone that he had laid on the table rang. It was a message from Fang Yun.

When Fang Yun saw the news, she was shocked. She couldn’t help but worry about the outcome of what this event would lead to. She was now enthralled with The East Palace. Shen Jintai had captured her heart. If he relapsed and pestered her boss again or pulled him into another scandal… She didn’t know what to do.

She knew Sunshine Media’s PR methods were top in the industry. If they worked against Shen Jintai and Monsoon Entertainment, he wouldn’t be able to gain any advantage from this.

“This news…” She asked anxiously, “Do you need the public relations department to deal with it?”

Yan Qiuchi hadn’t expected to be severely disliked by Shen Jintai’s fans. Even passersby hoped there would no longer be any entanglements with him. He had gone and checked Shen Jintai’s new Weibo post, and saw that there were already more than 100,000 comments. He clicked to read them, and the more he read, the more unsettled he became.

He realized that he was the least popular person among the gold powders. As he kept reading, he suddenly received a call from Shen Jintai. Yan Qiuchi was caught in a daze as his heartbeat pumped faster. He pursed his lips and connected the call. “Hello?”

“It’s me, Shen Jintai.”

Shen Jintai’s voice sounded a little strange over the phone. Yan Qiuchi responded with his usual “Nn” as he put one hand in his pocket and walked to the window.

“I don’t know if you have seen the news. I’m sorry, I got you involved again,” Shen Jintai said. Before Yan Qiuchi had a chance to respond, Shen Jintai continued, “But you can rest assured, I have already denied it clearly.”

You can rest assured.

Yan Qiuchi suddenly recalled the message he received saying the exact same thing: [You can rest assured.]

What can he be assured of?

The north wind was blowing, sweeping up snow from the glass window. One by one, they fell. Yan Qiuchi’s Adam’s apple bobbed. His mouth was open, but he was speechless. He didn’t know how to respond. It seemed as if Shen Jintai was unreachable. It wasn’t Shen Jintai that wronged him, but that he had wronged Shen Jintai.

Shen Jintai softly chuckled, as if he felt embarrassed, and said, “Then I won’t disturb your rest. Sleep early.”

“Shen Jintai.” Yan Qiuchi hurriedly shouted.

“Hmm?”

Yan Qiuchi lowered his eyes and said, “Good night.” The silence was deafening.

With another chuckle on the other end of the line, Shen Jintai responded, “Good night.”

After he hung up the phone, it made several beeping noises. Yan Qiuchi sat down in a chair, leaned his head back, and closed his eyes. Shen Jintai was in the critical period of his career. He could see how much he loved his job as an actor, loved being a star, and wanted to stay in the entertainment industry for a long time.

Yan Qiuchi knew he had to stay away from him as much as possible in order to not impede on his chances.

Feeling downcast, Yan Qiuchi got up and went to the closet to change into his pajamas. His wardrobe was displayed transparently. There were rows of shoes, ties, watches, and clothes. As he took off his bathrobe and put on his pajamas, he caught sight of the coat that Shen Jintai had returned to him, hanging unobtrusively in the corner.

Yan Qiuchi had insomnia that night. He closed his eyes and recalled the scene. The heavy snowfall. His arms were wrapped around Shen Jintai’s waist. With Shen Jintai’s in his embrace he walked forward. Snowflakes blown by the wind clashed against his face. He didn’t feel any slight of coldness, only the heat coming from his heart.

With a ding dong, Shen Jintai, who was about to fall asleep, was suddenly awoken.

“Dear!”

Upon hearing this familiar voice, Shen Jintai immediately sat up from the bed. “Xiao Ai!”

Xiao Ai’s familiar, cheerful, warm, and enthusiastic voice said, “Kiss~ I’m back!”

---

The author has something to say:

Yan Qiuchi: The road to chasing one’s wife is long and difficult.

---

Kinky Thoughts:

Lol poor Shen Jintai… Still adamant about being with Bai Qingquan. Poor Li Meilan, I think she’s going to have a stroke when they really do get together… and those gold powders are going to have aneurism.

Ah? Do I hear regret now? *Hands Yan Qiuchi a ticket to the crematorium*. Welcome .

What a terrible chapter… all full of fucking Weibo comments. At least Xiao Ai is back. So cute~ here’s what he looks like in the Manhua:

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 公子于歌 / Gong Zi Yu Ge

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

---

Chapter 56: Hold You in My Arms

Although the two days of promotional activities were very tiring, Shen Jintai felt even more radiant because he had so many people chasing and loving him. The love of his fans gave him nourishment.

It was a gloomy and cold day in Nancheng. Li Meilan looked at the itinerary and said, “You have an appointment with someone?”

Shen Jintai nodded. “Auntie Fang.”

Li Meilan: “Yan Qiuchi’s mother?”

Shen Jintai nodded, smiled, and said, “Auntie Fang has always taken great care of me. It’s been a long time since I saw her. I miss her a lot…”

Li Meilan: “Is Yan Qiuchi going?”

Shen Jintai chuckled. “Why would you ask that?”

Li Meilan laughed. “It’s obvious. Your credit is indispensable now that this drama is so popular. He, as the boss, should be there to reward you, the great hero. Isn’t that how it usually goes? Hahahaha.” She was only joking. Li Meilan knew how cold Yan Qiuchi really was. A pool of autumn water may not be as cold as him*.

*Clarity: It’s a double meaning as Qiuchi = autumn pond water, so she’s saying literally a pool of autumn water wouldn’t be as cold as him.

“Be careful when you’re there. Don’t let anyone find out.” Li Meilan explained. When Shen Jintai showed her the restaurant he was meeting them at, Li Melian smacked her head. “Never mind. This restaurant is so expensive that most people can’t afford to go.”

Shen Jintai: “If I wear a mask and hat, is that good enough?”

Li Meilan said, “I’m not sure.” Shen Jintai gave her a look. Li Meilan was probably in a good mood. She had been making jokes nonstop today. “You have a slender waist. I could tell it’s you from a glance, even if you wrap yourself up like a dumpling.”

Shen Jintai: “I’ll wear a coat, sister.” He was heavily armed this time. He wore a hat, a face mask, a light gray coat, and sunglasses.

Li Meilan took off his sunglasses. “It’s too much. This is enough.”

It may be because she was too familiar with it, but she thought his eyes and eyebrows were particularly recognizable. It looked very distinctive. She stared at them and said, “Why hadn’t I noticed it before? Your eyebrows are gorgeous.”

Shen Jintai smiled when he heard this, and his eyes were full of smiles.

The car had arrived at the restaurant. As soon as Shen Jintai got out, he saw a familiar figure.

Fuck.

Li Meilan saw Yan Qiuchi through the car window. He was wearing a black coat, and was standing elegant and tall. His usual cold and calm demeanor was present. He was standing at the restaurant door, blending in with the landscape that couldn’t be ignored. Among so many people, it was always obvious to spot him.

So handsome. Li Meilan couldn’t help being a nymphomaniac. She had seen many beautiful and handsome men in the industry, but it was ones like Yan Qiuchi that attracted her the most.

Yan Qiuchi caught sight of Shen Jintai. He instantly recognized him just from his figure and beckoned Shen Jintai over.

Shen Jintai was surprised that he was recognized so quickly. He waved his hand and walked towards Yan Qiuchi. When he reached him, he thought it would be impolite to wear a mask, so he took it off and said with a smile, “Am I late?”

Yan Qiuchi: “No, we arrived early.”

The word “we” made Shen Jintai feel relieved. Mrs. Yan was also there. When he first saw Yan Qiuchi, he couldn’t tell if it was a coincidence or if Mrs. Yan had set them up again.

Shen Jintai followed Yan Qiuchi in. There were only rich people since it was a very high-end restaurant. However, The East Palace was really popular, so it was still watched by the rich. It was currently dinnertime, so the restaurant was full of people. Several of them instantly recognized him.

Mrs. Yan was already waiting for them in the private room. After Shen Jintai entered, he immediately took off his hat and bowed with a smile. “Auntie.”

Seeing Shen Jintai smiling so sweetly, Mrs. Yan was overjoyed. She now had a fan filter for him. Seeing him, she felt as if his body was glowing like a star.

Shen Jintai straightened up as Yan Qiuchi helped pull a chair out for him. He glanced back and was a little flattered. “Thank you.”

“It’s cold outside,” Mrs. Yan said with a smile.

“A little bit.” Shen Jintai took off his coat as he was talking. As soon as he took it off, Yan Qiuchi stretched out his hand, took it, and hung it up on the coatrack nearby. Shen Jintai realized why he had always used the word gentlemen when he referred to the male protagonist now.

Yan Qiuchi also took off his coat and sat down beside him after hanging it up.

“These things were usually done by waiters, but now that you are so hot, I am afraid it’ll be inconvenient for you. I didn’t let any waitstaff in, so Qiuchi will take care of it personally,” Mrs. Yan said with a smile.

“I’m flattered. Hahahaha,” Shen Jintai replied calmly.

Yan Qiuchi looked over. Seeing Shen Jintai smiling, his heart skipped a beat. He didn’t know what was wrong.

Mrs. Yan gave Shen Jintai the menu and asked him about what had been going on in his life while ordering. Mrs. Yan really loved him. She asked everything in detail, like, how was the food, whether he was tired from filming, when he would have another break, and if there were a lot of fans at his promotional events.

Mrs. Yan: “I bought you a lot of body-nourishing supplements. When I leave, have Qiuchi take it to you. Winter is the best time to drink these tonics.”

Shen Jintai was beaming. It was obvious he was in a good mood. “How many things have you brought me? Can’t I carry it by myself?”

“Why did you think I asked him to come! It’s to serve us.” Mrs. Yan glanced over at Yan Qiuchi with a smile. Her eyes held a bit of mischievousness in them. “Is it alright with you, Qiuchi?”

Yan Qiuchi retained his calm demeanor and lightly said, “Okay.”

This kind of situation was what Mrs. Yan had dreamed of for many years.

Shen Jintai’s aura made people happy when they saw it. He was milder than before yet still retained his confidence. He looked at Mrs. Yan the whole time as they were having their conversation, occasionally revealing a smile at the corner of his mouth. He hardly looked over at Yan Qiuchi.

It didn’t feel like he was deliberately doing it. It was just his attention was focused on talking with Mrs. Yan.

Yan Qiuchi sat next to him and was responsible for adding tea and pouring water. He had received an elite education since he was a child. His tutoring was perfect. In addition, as the eldest son, he took care of Yan Yaoxuan when he was a child, so he could be very thoughtful and considerate. Growing up like this, Yan Qiuchi was extremely competent at taking care of people.

Mrs. Yan held her cheeks as she listened to Shen Jintai, while keeping Yan Qiuchi in her peripheral vision. Yan Qiuchi was drinking some wine. His face, neck, and ears were a little red, but his expression remained unchanged. She leaned back on her chair and refocused her attention on Shen Jintai, who was talking.

Shen Jintai was excited when he was talking about the fans he met while attending his promotional events. While he talked, Yan Qiuchi continued to stare at him and smiled. For people with high abstinence and coldness, this kind of smile was faint but was particularly warm because it made people feel joy from the bottom of their hearts.

Yan Qiuchi’s face was a little stained with the color of wine. It caused his eyes to have an ambiguous look. He stretched out his hand and gently touched Shen Jintai’s teacup with his fingers. He felt it was cold, so he poured him more tea.

Mrs. Yan tugged at the broken hair behind her ears*, turned her head, and continued to listen to Shen Jintai. She felt like a stepmother. Seeing this kind of situation, she felt very happy for no reason.

*(耳边的碎发) Refers to being careful and considerate.

It was getting dark outside. Looking down through the floor-to-ceiling windows, there was a lot of traffic on the street, and the lights were shining brightly. Mrs. Yan let out an “Ah” and said, “It’s snowing.”

It was really snowing. The streetlights were fluttering under the snow. The three of them went silent as they looked out the window, gazing at the falling snow. Mrs. Yan said, “Seeing the snow reminds me of last week’s episode. It was also a snowy day, but it made me cry to death.”

Shen Jintai smiled and said, “I was the same way when I was acting. It wasn’t easy to settle down after my scenes. But it’ll be fine later. I’ll be the one who’ll be abusing others. Hahaha.”

Mrs. Yan laughed as she suddenly stood up and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window. She looked at the entrance of the restaurant and lamented, “Ah, why are there so many people.”

Shen Jintai was surprised. He got up and came over to look. Sure enough, he saw a group of people crowding around the entrance of the restaurant. Flabbergasted, Mrs. Yan said what he was thinking. “It’s your fans.”

“I’ll ask the staff to take a look.” Yan Qiuchi said as he stepped out of the room. When he came back, he took the coats off the coatrack and said, “They’re waiting for you.”

Shen Jintai put on his coat as Mrs. Yan said, “How did they know about this?”

Shen Jintai joked, “Maybe I’m too popular.”

Yan Qiuchi: “I asked the manager. We can go through the back door.”

Mrs. Yan turned to look at Shen Jintai. He walked to the window and looked at the heavy snow that was falling outside. Among the fans were little girls who were waiting for him, as they kept stomping their feet to keep warm from the north wind.

“Let me say hello to them,” Shen Jintai said. The three of them headed downstairs.

This was a restaurant that Yan Qiuchi was a regular at. The manager had arranged for several male waiters to come and assist. They surrounded Shen Jintai as they made their way to the entrance.

As soon as the doors opened, the north wind blew in, bringing bits of snow with it. The crowd suddenly stirred with endless screaming as hoards of people all held their phones, snapping pictures of Shen Jintai wildly.

Though Mrs. Yan had seen the world, she had never seen such a crazy sight before, so she retreated in fright. Yan Qiuchi looked back at her, and she waved her hands, motioning for them to go on first.

Shen Jintai felt emotional thinking about all the fans that were waiting for him on a cold, snowy day like this. When a fan gave him a gift, he reached out to pick it up. The phones were so close to him that they were about to smack his face. Shen Jintai took the gifts in his arms, smiled, and bowed a few times.

Yan Qiuchi suddenly stretched out his hand and blocked him. Seeing a fan rushing up out of control, he put his arms around Shen Jintai and pulled him forward tightly. The male waiters formed a barrier and blocked the crowd. Not letting go, he continued to walk forward quickly with Shen Jintai in his arms. As he walked, his coat wrapped around Shen Jintai, causing his face to lean against Yan Qiuchi’s arms, touching the warm shirt underneath.

The heights of the two were very conspicuous among the crowd. One was wearing a black coat while the other was gray as the figures moved and broke through the crowd.

Mrs. Yan looked horrified as she witnessed the scene through the glass door. It wasn’t the first time she had seen Shen Jintai with so many fans, but a video was much different than experiencing it in person. She watched as Yan Qiuchi sent Shen Jintai into the car that quickly drove off. Some fans started to chase after it.

The road was slippery from the ice, and a little girl slipped and fell. Yan Qiuchi helped her up. The little girl looked at him, blushed, and said, “Thank you.”

Yan Qiuchi returned to the restaurant and stayed there until the crowd had dispersed, then said to Mrs. Yan, “Let’s go.” As he turned to her, he saw she was staring at him with a big grin on her face. He pursed his lips slightly. The waiter held the door for them as he grabbed his mother’s hands and walked slowly out.

Mrs. Yan took advantage of the situation and put her arms around his shoulders. Snow continued to fall on them as Mrs. Yan laughed loudly and said, “Xiao Jin is really popular.”

Yan Qiuchi’s complexion was cold. His handsome and resolute face remained unchanged in the face of the north wind. He finally knew what it felt like to hold a person tightly in his arms. Now that it was empty, he couldn’t bear the cold wind.

---

The author has something to say:

The plot of protecting and pulling in front of the fans was written three times:

Once for Shen Jintai and Bai Qingquan.

Once for Yan Qiuchi and Shen Jintai.

The first two times were to pave the way for the third time.

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Kinky Thoughts:

Now we’re progressing to the main romance. Let’s see how Yan Qiuchi can win over Shen Jintai.

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<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 公子于歌 / Gong Zi Yu Ge

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 55: It’s Heartwarming

“You’re really going?” Mrs. Yan confirmed it again.

Yan Qiuchi asked lightly, “Where are we eating?”

“Not sure yet. I’m not sure when he’ll return.”

Yan Qiuchi pursed his lips. His chiseled chin moved slightly. He raised his head and saw his mother staring at him.

Mrs. Yan immediately retracted her gaze. The corners of her mouth were twitching as she tried to hold back her smile. The phone had just connected. Hearing Shen Jintai’s voice filled her with a joy that her own two biological sons couldn’t give.

After hanging up the phone, she said to Yan Qiuchi, “Make a reservation for tomorrow night. Find a good restaurant that has good privacy. Xiao Jin is now a big star.”

Yan Qiuchi was silent. He put one hand in his trouser pocket and walked outside to make a call.

“Get dinner ready,” Mrs. Yan said to the maid in a relaxed tone. She turned her head to look at Yan Qiuchi through the glass window.

—

Seeing that the time was nearing, Shen Jintai asked Xiao Tang, “How many people are there waiting?”

Xiao Tang: “More than 800,000.”

Shen Jintai had no concept of what this meant, though. His intuition told him: ‘A lot of people!’

Li Meilan said, “You didn’t promote it in advance. It’s already awesome to have so many scheduled viewers. The number of people will soar during the live broadcast.”

“Wow!” The makeup artist next to him held his phone and shouted, “Zheng Siqi tagged you on Weibo to help you promote it!” As he said it, he handed the phone over to Shen Jintai to show him.

Zheng Siqi retweeted his Weibo post with the text: [Let’s watch it together.]

It took less than half a minute for that post to exceed over thousands of comments and retweets. The two of them were really a popular CP.

After the prince’s death was broadcast last night, Zheng Siqi’s Weibo was completely silent. The whole entire network felt sorry for him. His first post since then turned out to be a banner for Shen Jintai. Honestly, Zheng Siqi’s Weibo post may be even better than any kind of advertising pushed by the whole network. The number of people queueing for Shen Jintai’s live broadcast increased to astounding numbers.

Li Meilan: “Just stay calm. The show was so abusive that the fans were miserable. If you interact with them, they’ll treat you as if you’re sugar.”

The makeup artist said, “Seriously, many of my friends hope that you two will really get together in real life.”

“Am I with Zheng Siqi?” Shen Jintai asked mischievously.

“Fans have an empathetic effect when watching dramas, which is normal. They just like to nibble sugar. In their hearts, they know you guys are not truly a couple. After a few years, the popularity of this CP will fade, and it won’t affect your relationships,” Li Meilan said.

“I really like Zheng Siqi,” Shen Jintai said. “He became popular when he debuted, and his own conditions are good. That little guy’s future is limitless.”

“You are the little guy. He’s a few months older than you.” Li Meilan chuckled. “It’s 8. Are you ready?”

Xiao Tang took a small lamp and put it next to him. He also turned on the light on his phone. The fashion designer came over to help him organize his clothes. The process made Shen Jintai serious.

This was his first live broadcast. It was inevitable to be nervous and uneasy. Just like with filming, when he was ready, he nodded to Li Meilan solemnly.

“Three, two, one, it’s live.”

The broadcast started. Shen Jintai wore a bright smile on his face as he waved his hand and said, “Good evening. This is Shen Jintai.”

[Ahhhhhhh!]

[Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!]

[Ohhhhhh!]

[Ohhhhhhhhhhh!]

[Brother, I love you!!!]

[Son, Mom waited for you!]

The barrage exploded all at once. At first, Shen Jintai was nervous, but when he saw the situation, he couldn’t help but burst out laughing as he looked at all the groundhogs barking. He looked at the screen, still smiling, as he said, “Speak slowly, you guys. I can’t even see the barrage clearly.”

His smile only made the barrage crazier.

Bai Qingquan was lying on the bed, looking at Shen Jintai on the live broadcast.

Did he turn on a filter? He looked like he was milking it.

Shen Jintai didn’t style his hair either, simply tying it up. When the filter was turned on, it made him look more gorgeous than usual. The image felt strange yet familiar.

“I always eat a lot,” Shen Jintai said, as he looked at the camera while eating. “But people who want to lose weight shouldn’t think that you can just eat too much and not get fat. That’s all a lie. I work a lot, am young, and I have a fast metabolism, so I can eat more.”

Fuck. Too honest!

“I doubt myself when I see your praise. I’m not ranked in any of the top hot celebrity list. I’m definitely not known for my beauty.” Shen Jintai raised his head and asked the staff around him. “Can the filter be turned off?”

The barrage started flooding with: [Brother, you are the most handsome!]

[No makeup is also beautiful!]

Shen Jintai’s with no makeup on was beautiful. He had recently become prettier. After becoming popular, he had become even more appealing. Despite his heavy work schedule, there were no signs of fatigue on his face.

Bai Qingquan looked at himself in the mirror. Fortunately, he was also very beautiful.

It didn’t take long for the barrage to ask him about the ending between the crown prince and Li Xu.

“Don’t ask me too much about the ending. Our drama is filmed while broadcast, so I…”

As soon as Shen Jintai was halfway through speaking, Li Meilan made a gesture of covering her mouth. Shen Jintai smiled and said, “Hahaha. My agent won’t let me spoil it.”

The barrage exploded again when the topic revolved around the crown prince.

Shen Jintai was telling the truth. The prince’s ending was still in the stage of secrecy. Judging from the information he had, it was indeed possible the prince may not have died, because Zheng Siqi was still part of the crew.

This couldn’t be used as definite proof, though. There were many characters who had died but who appeared later as memories. It couldn’t be ruled out that Zheng Siqi, as one of the important factors in Li Xu’s blackening, would reappear later as dreams or memories.

At the stage they had filmed now, Li Xu had completely blackened into a complete villain. He was vicious and crazy, daring to do anything to climb to the top. This kind of persona was quite bad. The character was highly popular in the beginning. If the screenwriter had compassion for this character, they would help whitewash the role, and the main weapon to do so would be Zhou Ying.

Shen Jintai felt that as soon as Zhou Ying returned, the audience could forgive all of Li Xu’s actions because their relationship was too heartbreaking, agonizing, and pure.

Thinking about the prince, Bai Qingquan thought of Zheng Siqi. He felt that now that he had a filter for him, Zheng Siqi looked even more handsome than before, when he only considered him as a piece of fresh meat. He had a more aggressive and masculine flavor now. Liu Hui and his gold master, the bearded guy, loved to flirt with Zheng Siqi on set.

Shen Jintai originally planned to broadcast for only ten minutes. He didn’t expect that after chatting for a while, he would become more relaxed. Perhaps it was due to it being across screens. Even as the number of people displayed jumped from 1 million to 5, he didn’t have any particularly strong feelings. He felt like he was just talking to Xiao Tang and the others.

[I didn’t expect Shen Jintai to be able to speak so well. His voice is really nice.]

[Yes. He used to like to pretend to be cool, so he never said much in interviews. Now he has become so talkative. I feel that he is getting better and better. I don’t know if it’s because of the Li Xu filter.]

[Hahahaha, he also turned on the special effects that had flowers around his head. Truly worthy of Touhua!]

[The flowers are getting more and more delicious. Mom loves you!]

[His hair volume is enviable. So thick and black. I heard that he kept growing out his hair while filming this series and refused to cut it.]

[What should I do? I really love him more and more. I used to be a determined gold black powder. Mom, save me. I’m going to be the person I despise the most, ah!]

[He looks better in modern clothes than in ancient costumes. After all, he was born as a rich second generation, and he has the aura of a bai fumei. I know this may just be a Li Xu’s filter. I don’t care, I just love him, ah ah ah!]

[The number of online viewers has exceeded 8 million. So awesome!]

[This was an unplanned live broadcast. If he had notified in advance, the number would definitely exceed 10 million. Is this going to break the record?]

[Speaking of breaking records, have you forgotten Bai Qingquan’s record-breaking 100 million people?!]

[Bai Qingquan’s number is the cumulative number of clicks, not the number of people online. Nevertheless, it’s also awesome.]

[The scene of the two top streams competing against each other is about to appear. Come, let’s bet. Who will get the number one throne of the top stream this year?!]

[I bet on Bai Qingquan, who has a large base and is a leading actor. The later scenes are bullish, and his top position is unshakable!]

[Although Touhua has been really popular recently, I also bet on Bai Qingquan. Bai Qingquan can’t be easily defeated. The 20 million live fans aren’t just for show.]

[I am a fan of Touhua’s career. I feel that he is particularly ambitious. He has black powders, which is most suitable for the slaughter. So I bet on Touhua. Touhua charge forward! I want to see your bloody winds!]

Shen Jintai’s live broadcast reached its peak when it was focused on the prince. Since the episode had just been broadcast less than a day ago, the heat was still high. This interaction from his live broadcast pushed it onto the hot search.

Li Meilan was horrified when she saw the hot search. There had been too many recently, and she was afraid it would cause disgust among passersby. Fortunately, the world of Weibo was for fans. As long as no big mistakes were made, it would rarely overturn¹ on Weibo and all the comments would just be considered wailing of the past².

¹Buzzword meaning spread through various major social media and become quickly known.
²Clarity: She’s saying there’s a lot of buzz regarding Shen Jintai on Weibo. Fortunately, if there’s no serious scandal/news it’ll remain just within Weibo and can be contained. All those Weibo posts later can just be attributed to a bunch of drabble. The reason why is, as mentioned before, if a celebrity keeps appearing on the hot search constantly, passersby will think it is deliberate and become annoyed/disgusted at them.

“The latest episode of <The East Palace is Coming> has hit a record high again, right?”

“The total number of views has exceeded 10 billion, and the single-day number is estimated to break 6 today. This is only half of the fucking broadcast.”

“The WeChat index is also setting its own record. This drama is really explosive. Everyone in our office is watching it, and everyone in our circle of friends was crying today.”

“I don’t watch The East Palace, so I have nothing to chat with my classmates about. I came back from the cafeteria at noon yesterday. In the corridor, I heard that several dormitories were broadcasting The East Palace, and even our auntie dorm manager was chasing replays!”

“I thought this show would be popular, but I didn’t expect it to be this popular. To paraphrase fans, only The East Palace itself can defeat The East Palace.”

“Honestly, there have been too many hot searches for this drama. I thought it was bad. I watched my friends’ circle brush Jintai Qiongying every day. Only when I watched it did I realize that it was actually a serious drama. After watching a few episodes, it was really fragrant. I watched the death of the prince at noon yesterday, and I almost cried to death! From then on, I was a Touhua fan!”

“Touhua’s live broadcast was today. His Weibo fans have risen by more than two million at once, and he already has over 10 million, right?”

“There are millions of retweets and comments on the latest Weibo post. Even Zheng Siqi had more than 500,000. There are no other words except awesome.”

“The two of them have good CP sense. I really want them to be together!”

“If the two of them can be together, I’ll be a fan for the rest of my life!”

Jintai Qiongying CP’s popularity was out of control. People were talking about it online and offline. Even Mrs. Yan, who had been trying endlessly to set up her own son, sobbed ceaselessly last night after watching the episode. She had become a fan of the CP.

“The young man is so handsome.” Mrs. Yan had just finished her meal. She leaned back in her chair while looking at her phone and said, “He’s quite fitting for Xiao Jin. Xiao Jin just did a live broadcast. He seemed to be riding the waves of the publicity. I saw a bunch of people begging them to get together.”

Yan Qiuchi said, “It’s just acting. Those little girls and you take it so seriously.”

“Maybe it will become true because of the drama. The young man looks a bit like you. I feel it’s to Xiao Jin’s taste.” As she said it, Mrs. Yan tilted her head to look at Yan Qiuchi’s side. “Look. Your eyebrows and chin are a bit similar, no?”

Yan Qiuchi took a look. Zhang Siqi was handsome. In terms of good looks, he was comparable to Bai Qingquan. However, he was just a small fledgling that still held a prepubescent aura. Yan Qiuchi felt he didn’t have a similar feeling to Zhang Siqi at all.

When Mrs. Yan saw that Yan Qiuchi was silent, she grinned. What she was hinting at tonight was obvious.

Yan Qiuchi turned to look at her. “I know what you are thinking, and it’s not what you think.” With their messy past, it meant there would be no future between them.

Shen Jintai didn’t like him anymore. But the current Shen Jintai was really different from the past Shen Jintai. The Shen Jintai of the past would make him aggravated and fearful. He couldn’t help but think how terrible it would be for whoever was with such a person in the future.

Looking at Shen Jintai now, he felt the opposite. It would be a great blessing to anyone who could be with him.

Shen Jintai, who he saw last night on set, was still floating in his mind. On a cold night in winter, the lights were filled with night mist. Shen Jintai had walked up to him, face-to-face, as if his figure had melted into the light behind him, leaving only a slender quaking shadow. It gradually became clear as the figure came into full view.

This was more exciting than when he saw Shen Jintai with his exposed body in the swimming pool or the Shen Jintai in the underwear ad.

Combing the three images… He had seen Shen Jintai when he was undressed, almost naked, and when he was clothed, wrapped in a heavy down jacket.

These images felt like bliss.

This feeling he had was like a shadowy figure that was stirring his heart. He had felt the charm of Shen Jintai and had become fascinated by it. Love and desire had not yet sprouted, but those feelings had started to move.

---

The author has something to say:

It’s almost time.

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Kinky Thoughts:

LOL Mama Yan jumped ship. Sorry to break it to her, but I already jumped a long time ago, but it’s for JinBai.

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