Author: 公子于歌 / Gong Zi Yu Ge

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

---

Chapter 34: The Trailer is Here!

The live barrage flooded the screen.

“It’s coming, it’s coming.”

“This broadcast is so damn eye-catching. It’s full of hotties and beauties!”

“It’s said that Yang Lizhi had a facelift. She’s still the number one huadan in ancient costume!”

“She such a gorgeous little flower. So beautiful.”

“Bai Qingquan looks very suitable wearing white clothes. Our fairy boy!”

“I like to watch this kind of thing in the entertainment industry the most. When I see it, my heart gets excited. Only in this circle can I see so many beautiful and good-looking people.”

“There are really too many beauties in this drama, but Shen Jintai still stood out!”

“Yes, I was about to say that he’s actually very attractive among a group of handsome guys.”

“It’s a pity we can’t see his ass in that costume.”

“Am I the only one who noticed that he looks the best, with that fair face and red lips?”

“The Shen Jintai, who used to be all bells and whistles, feels like it was a lifetime ago. He looks like he has a good temperament now. He has a really good figure and a really straight back!”

At the scene, it was the moonlight powders who had the highest voices, but amidst the screams of the group of moonlight powders, Shen Jintai seemed to have heard a few people calling his name. He looked over with a smile and beckoned to the fans.

“Shen Jintai!” He saw a familiar face. It was the girl he had last met when he had dinner with Yan Yaoxuan.

There were more than a dozen gold powders this time. They were all very excited when they saw Shen Jintai. Shen Jintai walked over and greeted them.

Bai Qingquan refused to lose to him and ran over to greet the moonlight powders. The fans were excited, and their emotions were so out of control that the crew had to pull them back.

“A lot of people are here today.” Liu Hui took out a small mirror to take another look at his makeup. It wasn’t just fans who were here today, but also many media outlets, except they were allowed to take pictures. Those who use their faces to eat must be beautiful*.

*It means making a living with your looks.

While looking in the mirror, he heard the screams of moonlight powders, plum powders, and gold powders. Song Wei and the old actors weren’t surprised, but he was envious and jealous. He had played many leading roles in the past, yet why hasn’t he attracted any new fans!

“Everyone get ready, the shooting will start immediately. All departments are in place!” The executive director shouted into his megaphone.

Today’s scene was the highlight of the foreign feudal dynasty. At this banquet, several princes and the forces behind them confront each other. The climax of the banquet was a major case of poisoning.

Guo Rui wanted to show off his skills. The opening scene of the troupe was a long shot. For a large-scale scene involving so many parties, scheduling was important. A director with insufficient skill wouldn’t be able to shoot such a shot. The single shot had to capture all the main characters.

“Three, two, one, ACTION!”

The camera followed a group of palace attendants as they slowly walked into the banquet hall. Several important concubines showed their faces one by one until it was fixed on a delicate-looking palace girl, who was walking softly and quietly. After reaching the third prince, she bowed and handed over the plate.

Zhou Ying has already attracted criticism and some opposition from the court because of his affection for the eunuch Li Xu. He was a virtuous person, but he was far inferior to the second son, Zhou Jing, in terms of talent. His popularity fell even further with the citizens after the eunuch incident.

However, the old emperor valued this eldest son the most, and with the prominence of Empress Xiao’s family background, the position of the crown prince remained stable.

Some, though, couldn’t hold back and remained dissatisfied with the status quo. This group was led by the third prince, Zhou Yan.

“He is just luckier than us. He was born in the belly of the Empress. When it comes to the talent of governing the country, let alone second brother, he is not even comparable to me!” Zhou Yan said as he glared at the crown prince.

Zhou Jing smiled and said, “As long as the Xiao clan exists, if prince brother does not make any big mistakes, his position cannot be abolished.” He turned to look at the crown prince as well and saw Li Xu standing upright behind him, with scars on his cheeks.

“Are you okay?” Zhou Ying asked in a low voice.

Li Xu said, “The Prince’s Palace banquet… You really shouldn’t have brought me to such an occasion.”

“I just want my mother to know my determination. The more absurd I am, the less she dares to touch you easily.”

As he spoke, he looked up at Empress Xiao, who was not far away.

Empress Xiao frowned slightly, and when she noticed that the emperor beside her was also looking at the prince, she reluctantly smiled and said, “The prince did this on purpose for his concubines. This child is still so stubborn.” She wanted to tell the emperor that the prince was being ridiculous, not because he loved Li Xu, but because he wanted to argue with her.

Recently, rumors rose throughout the court that the emperor plans to abolish the crown prince. Although she knew these were simply rumors, they had been circulating too much, and it made her heart extremely uneasy.

Yet still, in such a dire situation, the prince brought along Li Xu to attend today’s event. It could be seen that in her son’s heart, beauty was more important than country.

She stretched out her hand to attract her chief eunuch and whispered a few words to him. He Lanbi, who was sitting next to her, took a sip of wine and secretly looked at Zhou Jing on the opposite side.

The camera then returned to Zhou Jing. Zhou Yan, the third prince beside him, frowned suddenly, trembled for a few seconds, and spurted out blood.

This group of shots was shot three times in a row. Starting from this point, the series would set off a rhythm of at least one death per episode.

The fans who were visiting the set dared not make any noise.

During the live shooting, the environment was noisy, filters and editing were not used, and the clips were incoherent, but after the last mouthful of blood spurted out, every scene had a constant climax.

Chaos erupted. There were those who shouted grievances, those who were dragged away by the guards, those who cried, and those who fell to the ground and prostrated. These different scenes switch back and forth, giving rise to higher levels of excitement.

Due to the principle of confidentiality, during the live broadcast, the cameras were far away, and the lines could not be heard clearly, but the intensity of the palace fight could be seen by just looking at the picture.

The barrage became more intense.

“It was Wei Qian, the actor of Concubine Shu, who was dragged away just now. This is her role.”

“Damn, it looks wonderful.”

“Palace fights are so cruel. My heart beats faster when I hear them tearing at each other!”

“Slap drama! Slap drama!”

“The queen and the prince are miserable! But isn’t the crew afraid of spoilers like this?”

“It’s adapted from the novel. Spoilers incoming. The poisoning case was the original famous scene. It’s followed by the witch trial, then by the abolition of the crown prince. The Xiao clan gets punished, the Empress goes crazy, and the heroine, He Lanbi, becomes a slave because of her in-law relationship with the Xiao clan.”

“It turns out to be a relative. How could Empress Xiao’s niece be surnamed He.”

“He Lanbi is Xiao Yan’s eldest daughter. She was adopted by Xiao Yan when she was seven or eight years old. Her life is also very bloody. There will be no spoilers here.”

“Although I can’t hear what they’re talking about, I feel that everyone’s acting skills are very good, including Shen Jintai!”

“Yes, yes, I’m so excited to see it. The scene where Shen Jintai prostrated his head and cried just now. It looked so emotional!”

“Can’t wait to watch this show!”

“I just came back from watching the trailer on the official blog. I want to say, I have decided on this drama!”

“The trailer was released? Shit, it’s already 10. I’m going to see it!”

“Wow, wow, wow! The trailer looks great, especially Shen Jintai raising his eyebrows!”

“Is the main protagonist of this drama really not Shen Jintai? It was in the final shot!”

After half an hour of the trailer being posted, it successfully landed on the hot search and quickly rose to the top ten.

Moonlight powders only saw Bai Qingquan’s beauty. “Gold raises idlers, flowers raises laughter*, our brother truly is the supreme Bai Yueguang!”

*I think it’s referencing a poem. Can’t find a source. Supposedly, it means it lives up to its image.

Yang Lizhi’s fans only saw their sister’s unparalleled beauty. “Her looking back image, I love it!”

The gold powders screamed even louder.

The reborn Shen Jintai! How could their brother suddenly become so textured! Except for the low screen time and shots, there were no other shortcomings!

When can they see the full thing!

Yan Yaoxuan was sitting in a car heading to the airport. He repeatedly watched the trailer more than a dozen times. He finally adjusted it to full screen and cut out the shot of Shen Jintai raising his eyebrows, making it his screensaver. He put the phone down and turned to look out the window.

Summer was coming to an end, and autumn would soon arrive.

The fans and actors at the filming location were unable to see the trailer yet. The set visit was coming to an end. After a series of climatic scenes, the crew was nervously shooting the last scene.

Li Xu, wearing a robe, was running in the corridor. His feet were clattering on the wooden floor as the executive director shouted from behind the camera, “Li Xu, turn around!”

Shen Jintai, with blood on his forehead, turned his head abruptly when he heard the words, and an arrow flew across his cheek.

“Cut!”

The makeup artist hurriedly ran over and applied fake blood to Shen Jintai’s face and painted scars. Shen Jintai’s chest was still undulating violently. His eyebrows drooped slightly, and he didn’t say a word. He was obviously immersed in his emotions.

With a bow in his hand, Bai Qingquan walked to the other end of the corridor and stood still, looking at Shen Jintai.

He’d just finished a fight scene with Shen Jintai, and his chest was pounding with excitement. Following this was an emotional rivalry scene that made him even more excited.

After the makeup artist finished, Guo Rui stood behind the monitor and said, “Adjust your mood and get ready to shoot.”

Shen Jintai sighed solemnly, raised his head, and nodded to the director.

“Three, two, one, action!”

A staff member squatted next to him and raised the hair dryer in his hand. Shen Jintai’s long hair drifted away. His eyes were flushed as he looked at the camera.

The rocker camera turned around, as his facial muscles twitched slightly. His thin lips were tightly pursed, and tears puddled in his eyes. Zhou Jing pointed at him and yelled, “If you dare to take another step, I will shoot you!”

“His royal highness promised me that he would never kill him!”

“Do you think I’m the only one who wanted his life?” Bai Qingquan’s eyes were also red. “The situation has reached this point and it’s no longer beyond our control. If you go to him, you will just accompany him to death.”

Shen Jintai stared at him and said, “You can save him.”

Bai Qingquan’s lips trembled. “I will neither kill nor save him.”

He looked at Shen Jintai. There were blood marks on Shen Jintai’s face, and his pair of eyes seemed to be saying something. He was really conquered by Shen Jintai’s acting skills. Today, Shen Jintai’s acting skills captured the audience and grabbed the limelight that he loved.

Shen Jintai had no lines at this moment. He only saw a slight change in his expression. He stared at him for a while, then turned around and ran forward. Bai Qingquan stepped forward and shouted, “Don’t forget whose slave you are!”

Shen Jintai stopped, turned his head, and said, “I am your servant, but I belong to the crown prince… I belong to the crown prince…”

He didn’t have time to continue. He just looked back at him; his expression full of grief. His long hair was scattered, and there was blood on his forehead and face staining his green robe and white shirt.

Suddenly, with a ding dong, Xiao Ai came online at this moment and said, “…Dear, Bai Yueguang’s favorability for you has increased by 31 points. Here’s your reward for your killer waist with the venus dimples and the may cherries. Along with this, your beauty reward for sharp eyebrows and gorgeous eyes has been rewarded as well.”

Shen Jintai didn’t seem to hear it.

Xiao Ai remained for three seconds, then with a beep, went offline.

Shen Jintai wiped away the stream of tears and turned his head and walked forward with great stride.

The bow and arrow in Bai Qingquan’s hand fell to the ground, making a loud clattering sound. Shen Jintai’s clothes were messy. He had a jade crown tied to his hair, and he was dressed in a long blue and white robe embroidered with flowers and bamboo leaf patterns. He looked elegant and captivating.

This was just the beginning. Shen Jintai and Bai Qingquan would appear on screen for this nearly one-year-long drama series. This was the start of their journey of falling in love and killing each other as the two most powerful young actors in the entertainment industry.

The trailers were also launched at this time by the two first-tier satellite TV channels. Yang Lizhi was in the middle, followed by Bai Qingquan and Shen Jintai. The representative of the satellite TV stations echoed in the most sensational voice:

[Have you ever chased a dream like this?

Have you ever loved someone like this?

The turbulent waves in the court, the anger in the palace, the love and resentment.

The curtain draws open, the show’s about to start, and in September, we’ll meet at The East Palace.]

---

Kinky Thoughts:

Wow this drama is getting exciting. My heart aches for Li Xu and Zhou Ying!! Commissioning the author to write a transmigration novel for this drama please!

Welp… looks like Shen Jintai got the may cherry whether he wanted to or not… That’s good news for Yan Qiuchi though.

---

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

Author: 公子于歌 / Gong Zi Yu Ge

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

---

Chapter 33: The First Open Set Visit is Here

Shen Jintai’s rejection of Yan Yaoxuan was not only a matter of feelings, but he also took Yan Qiuchi into account. Those words “you can rest assured” were polite and seemed to be actively drawing a clear line between them.

Yan Yaoxuan turned his head as if he had expected it, and asked, “Is it a message from Xiao Jin? What did he say?”

“Nothing,” Yan Qiuchi said.

Yan Yaoxuan was silent. “Forget it. Don’t tell me.” Knowing will only make him sadder. Shen Jintai was probably still concerned about his brother and was explaining the situation to him. He was really jealous of his brother, who had gained Shen Jintai’s love.

But his brother just… The untouchable ones are always stirring, while the preferred ones have nothing to fear*. This was an undeniable truth.

*(不到的永远在骚动，被偏爱的永远都有恃无恐,) Refers to the more you can’t get something, the more you yearn for it. If you get something easily, you’ll feel confident and won’t worry about it. It’s lyrics from Eason Chan’s “Red Rose“, a Mandarin song written by Li Zhuoxing and arranged by Liang Qiaobai. You can find a cover at the link that also has English subtitles for the lyrics.

Shen Jintai was lying in bed, still full of adrenaline. Yan Yaoxuan had actually confessed to him. He was in disbelief that such a bloody thing happened to him. He had always regarded Yan Yaoxuan as a fan, mixed with a little sense of brotherhood.

Yet Yan Yaoxuan said that he had loved him for a long time. When he heard the word “love”, it gave him goosebumps everywhere, so much so that he couldn’t even remember exactly how he rejected him.

Yan Qiuchi did not reply to the message he sent. He completely understood Yan Qiuchi’s mood. He couldn’t imagine the sourness Yan Qiuchi would go through if he got together with Yan Yaoxuan. But thinking about Yan Yaoxuan’s red eyes, he couldn’t bear it.

Yan Yaoxuan was still very strong. After all, he was taught by a mature older brother. He was also a man. After being rejected, though he had an expression of shame and sadness, he also showed self-restraint. It was really distressing to watch.

—

The maid of the Yan family came down from upstairs and shook her head at Mrs. Yan.

Mrs. Yan said, “He rarely sleeps late. Why hasn’t he gotten up today?”

“He said he was uncomfortable and wanted to sleep a little longer.”

“Uncomfortable?” Mrs. Yan stood up.

Yan Qiuchi, who was sitting on the opposite side, spoke while eating breakfast, “For such a grown person, you don’t need to treat him as a child. I have bought him a plane ticket back to the UK. He’s just a bit reluctant to leave and is a little bit upset. Don’t worry about him.”

Mrs. Yan sat down again. “His school doesn’t start for a few more days, right?”

“There’s little difference between a few days anyway. He has nothing to do at home.”

“I heard Yaoxuan say that you are opposed to him interacting with Xiao Jin.”

Yan Qiuchi looked up.

Mrs. Yan was a little upset. “You don’t want to take care of Xiao Jin, and I won’t force you, but Xiao Jin has lived in our house for a long time since you were a child. You have your feelings, and we have ours. Don’t use your likes and dislikes to force them on others.”

Yan Qiuchi said, “I won’t in the future.”

Mrs. Yan was taken aback for a moment.

He wouldn’t in the future. He didn’t need to do it anymore because Shen Jintai no longer liked him. The absurd entanglement between him and Shen Jintai for several years had finally come to an end.

Yan Qiuchi felt that, apart from the unsuitable personalities of the two of them, there was a big difference in their outlook on love. He believed that the best kind of love should be cautious and not just based on hormonal impulse when choosing the person you love most. Be restrained when you love, and don’t get carried away by love.

He would not let love go to his head, and his future prospects would be respectful of his wishes.

 —

Shen Jintai had let go of the matter. He was fine and had moved forward.

Because <The East Palace is Coming> was shot and broadcast at the same time, the production cycle was very short, so all departments had to rush. They had only been filming for the past few days, and a rough cut of the first trailer had already been released.

The trailers were presented layer by layer, and when they were sent to Yan Qiuchi, they were already accompanied by music and subtitles. Yan Qiuchi watched it again. The first version of the trailer was very simple. The one-minute trailer has more than 40 seconds of character introductions by the production team. In the last ten seconds, a scroll of pictures slowly unfolded, with the mottled red walls of the palace passing by in groups. He Lanbi, played by Yang Lizhi, looked back to the melodious sound of the flute.

Yang Lizhi looked back, Bai Qingquan held flowers, and Shen Jintai raised his eyebrows. These were the three highlights of the first edition of the trailer.

Gao Qiao quietly observed President Yan’s reaction.

Yan Qiuchi had never been expressive. Gao Qiao had followed him for many years and could tell what his emotions were by judging his subtle expressions.

Yan Qiuchi was obviously very satisfied with this version of the trailer. Not only was Yan Qiuchi satisfied, but the other senior executives felt the same way. Their biggest concern about the series, Shen Jintai, looked particularly harmonious among the handsome men and women of the cast.

The clip of him that was cut into the trailer was the first shot he took. At the royal banquet, he secretly raised his eyebrows and looked at the crown prince on the opposite side, while he slowly turned his head away. The corners of his lips held a smile that didn’t look like a smile as it was accompanied by moving music. The ending made people feel extremely unsatisfied and left a particularly beautiful aftertaste.

—

Today was the first open-set visit, and Shen Jintai was particularly nervous and excited. Before the media opened the set, at 10 in the morning, the officials would release a preview of the first trailer.

The drama <The East Palace is Coming> would be a masterpiece of the year. It had always firmly held the spot for “Most anticipated TV series of the year” on every online vote. High expectations and high investment meant that the material was closely monitored. No leaked photos had been released during the filming period. The crew paid careful attention to leaks that not even the starring actors could watch the first version of the trailer in advance.

The whole world was waiting to celebrate when the official blog post was to be sent out. Everyone was highly anticipating this trailer. Passersby wanted to use the trailer to judge the success of <The East Palace is Coming> while fans from all walks of life wanted to lick their own cooking.

Unfortunately for other actors, moonlight powders, plum powders, and gold powders were the most chicken-blooded. The most vocal, of course, were the moonlight powders.

“At ten o’clock in the morning, my brother prosperous beauty will crit* again!”

*I think this is referring to critical hit (like in games). Applied here would be like astound everyone.

“Wowowow! It’s been a long time since I saw my brother in costume!”

“Not only are we squatting, but several UP¹ masters in my collection are squatting. We’re going to cut² the video with my brother’s footage!”

¹Uploader. Refers to people (usually fans) who edit videos and post them online on platforms like Bilibili.
²Referring to splicing up videos, in this case, taking only clips of Bai Qingquan and nothing else.

“Brother has such a beautiful face. Bloodbath in Station B!”

“Cut it out quickly. I don’t want to see other people in this video. I just want to see my brother alone!”

“That’s right, especially for Shen Touhua. I don’t want to see him!”

“It’s a headache talking about it. If there was no Shen Touhua in this drama, I could re-watch it 10,000 times. I’m so tangled now. I hate him so much that I don’t want to watch this drama!”

“Hug you. Me too, but it’s okay. We can skip his part when the time comes!”

“I have seen that several forums are actually looking forward to Shen Touhua? Ha ha ha, I don’t understand how their brains work.”

“Those forums are just like that. They are all a group of stupid fans, or they’re a water army, and they can’t think for themselves!”

“They thought that just because the posters came out well, it meant the acting would be good? Today’s trailer will show them that dynamic and static are two different things! It’s obvious this kind of rumor was made up by gold powders!”

Bai Qingquan who was squatting in his fan group, became terrified.

“You should eat something.” Wei Ge pushed the lunchbox over. “Weight loss is not a subtraction method. You’re at a good weight now. You won’t look good if you lose more weight.”

“Did you see the chat?” Bai Qingquan asked. “I feel that they are about to be slapped in the face…”

The scary thing wasn’t the face slapping. It was the shock they’d receive from Shen Jintai’s acting skills. Would they still be his fans? After all, many moonlight powders used to be gold powders!

“Shen Jintai doesn’t have much airtime in the first version of the trailer, right?” Wei Ge said. “The crew was very clear. They will definitely take care of the status of the male and female leads. They mainly rely on you and Yang Lizhi for investments. They dare not let Shen Jintai overshadow you.”

It was clear who had more fans and more influence. Bai Qingquan kept shaking his legs. He wanted to go into the gold powders chatroom to have a look, but he no longer had “Black Moonlight”. He needed to register a new account, but he didn’t realize how troublesome it would be. He also had to bind the account to his phone. He needed to buy another phone and a new number.

Unable to know the reactions and topics of the gold powders, he had trouble sleeping and eating. After all, only by knowing oneself and knowing the enemy can one be invincible*.

*I believe this is a loose reference to the quote by Sun Tzu from the Art of War. “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.” || In this context, it means knowing the gold powders and Shen Jintai’s actions, he could counter-attack before they do anything bad to him (like in the past).

—

The “Gold Powder Family” was also very lively. After all, it was Shen Jintai’s comeback debut. The poster and the press conference were a good start. Now they were waiting for the trailer. If Shen Jintai performed well in the trailer, they could rest assured that the official series would be his turning point. It was always darkest before the dawn, and that made them even more anxious.

“There’s still half an hour. I’m so anxious!”

“<The East Palace is Coming> is really a big drama. I think there are already 8 groups in the rabbit area that have already built several buildings. It’s today’s hottest entertainment topic. My brother really chose the right drama.”

“I don’t know if my brother can get on the hot search today.”

“Let’s watch it together when the trailer comes out,” Xiao Tang spoke to the group.

“Okay!”

“No problem!”

“I won’t do anything today. I’m going to retweet it a hundred times!”

Several big fans even sent a lot of red envelopes* to promote this matter. The red envelopes were named: [Victory for Brother Jin!]

*I believe whatever chat/messaging app they are using, you can send these red envelopes that people can grab and get money from. Someone who’s more familiar with Chinese messaging apps can chime in on this.

Xiao Tang conveyed the hearts of the fans to Shen Jintai, who smiled as he looked at himself in the mirror. Today wasn’t only the day when the trailer was released, but also the first open set visit. Both the media and fans would be there. The venue this time was even bigger than the banquet from the press conference. The crew all went to Hantang Film and Television City* to shoot at the location.

*I think the author is referencing something like Hengdian World Studios. I think something equivalent would be like Universal Studios Hollywood in the US.

There were a lot of people in the dressing room. Song Wei sat next to him and said, “Xiao Jin, after work is over in the evening, let’s go eat together.”

“Yes, I’ll invite you,” Shen Jintai said with a smile.

“Brother Jin, take me too.” It was rare for Zheng Siqi to take the initiative.

Shen Jintai smiled. “Okay.”

“Last time you invited me, it was your treat. Today I will pay the bill,” Zheng Siqi said.

“Xiao Qi, come here for a bit.” Song Wei beckoned.

Zheng Siqi walked over. He hadn’t put on makeup, was dressed casually, and was wearing a fisherman’s hat.

Song Wei took off his hat, took a closer look at him, and smiled. “I talked about you with Producer Zhang yesterday. He said that you look a bit like President Yan. Now, that I look closely, you really look a bit like him.”

Zheng Siqi paused. “How can I compare with President Yan.”

“Doesn’t he look a bit similar?” Song Wei smiled and asked Shen Jintai. After asking, she realized that the question was probably inappropriate.  

Shen Jintai looked calm, looked in the mirror, and said, “A bit similar.”

Zheng Siqi didn’t even notice what he looked like. He leaned over, half leaning on Shen Jintai’s shoulder, and laid down in front of the mirror to take a closer look.

Seeing that Shen Jintai didn’t seem to mind, Song Wei continued, “It’s a pity that President Yan’s face is not in the entertainment circle. There’s a shortage of his type in the industry.”

Vigorous but noble, heroic and gentlemanly, abstinent and masculine. He was also very handsome. Every time he came to visit the set, he would dwarf all the good-looking stars.

From a woman’s point of view, these conditions were top quality. From the perspective of an actor, she felt that Yan Qiuchi’s austere temperament was very charming.

He had the sense of asceticism of a mysterious gentleman. If his face was magnified on the big screen, and if he played sexually provocative roles, who knew how many people he would fascinate?

However, given Yan Qiuchi’s family background, people will not eat a bowl of rice* with celebrities.

*Getting mixed answers from my research, but I think it refers to your status not being commensurate with your profession. In this case, his elite family status doesn’t match well with being an actor/celebrity (they tend to be looked down upon).

“The gift I prepared for the fans, don’t forget to bring it later,” Shen Jintai instructed Xiao Tang.

“Did you buy them clothes?” Li Meilan asked.

“Some souvenir trinkets from the film and television city,” Shen Jintai said.

In addition, it also included his autographed photo, as they were very common. The souvenir trinkets had very little value, and they mainly included just little tidbits of things he wrote.

He asked Xiao Tang to write down the names of the fans who came to visit this time. The greetings on each autographed photo included their names, and everyone’s greetings were different. He made sure that each of them was unique.

For fans, there was nothing more precious than the only blessing in the world of their home cooking.

The fans who came to visit this time came from all over the country. Many of them didn’t know each other before they came. They came together because they liked the same idol. They often chased stars together online, but now they were united for the first time in their lives. Shen Jintai had booked a restaurant and told Xiao Tang that after the set visit was over, he would take the gold powders who came to visit and have a gathering of gold powders at the restaurant. If he had time, he would come and meet them.

Shen Jintai also intended to reimburse them for all their expenses.

The crew had been preparing for this scene since dawn, and when all the actors had finished their makeup, the shooting was ready. Many media outlets came this time. According to the plan, they would finish filming the scenes and then give the media an interview.

Since filming was ongoing, phones weren’t allowed. This meant none of the actors could see the trailer. As a result, not only them, but fans who came to visit the set also had their phones temporarily confiscated. The crew announced through speakers constantly, “Please consciously abide by our regulations. It is forbidden to take pictures. If we find someone taking pictures with their phone, we will confiscate it.”

There were hordes of people, and the environment was extremely noisy. Only one online website had obtained the exclusive right to broadcast the live stream. As soon as the broadcast opened, the number of online viewers had reached the tens of thousands, eventually soaring to over 200,000 in less than half an hour.

But the most exciting thing was the fans who were visiting the set.

The weather was a bit bad today. At 8, the sun suddenly emerged from the clouds. The fans gathered around the police lines. Suddenly, they saw several nanny cars driving over, and a group of actors in costumes came out of them.

Looking over from a distance, the luo yi* clothes, surrounded by dazzling colors, reflected the palace walls and stone floors, as if they were in a celestial world.

*(罗衣) Clothes made of light soft silk fabrics.

Regardless of men or women, they were all fair and beautiful, beyond ordinary people, as their figures shined under the sun.

As they walked into the set, the screams of fans could be heard. The fairy-like Bai Qingquan. The gorgeous Yang Lizhi. The noble Zheng Siqi. The alluring Liu Hui. The graceful Song Wei. The fair-faced, red-lipped Shen Jintai. One after another, groups of handsome men and women walked by, creating a dazzling and fragrant scene.

This was the brilliance of the entertainment industry.

---

The author has something to say:

This is the star-studded beauty that the entertainment industry that I have in my mind.

---

Kinky Thoughts:

As I’m reading the description the author gave to each star as they walked in, I went ‘the fuck?’ at Shen Jintai’s description. Why is it so different than the other stars? Author can you not really think of a word to describe Shen Jintai other than his physical features?

I cackled at Yan Qiuchi’s thoughts, “Be restrained when you love, and don’t get carried away by love.” Oh, dear. He’s going to eat those words in the future.

---

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

Author: 公子于歌 / Gong Zi Yu Ge

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

---

Chapter 32: Face Slapping

Yan Qiuchi was about to call Yan Yaoxuan after hanging up on a call. He felt uneasy. Despite being strict with Yan Yaoxuan, he actually loves his younger brother very much.

Yan Yaoxuan was a few years younger than he was, but he had always been taken care of by his older brother since he was a child. Due to stern management and good protection by Yan Qiuchi, Yan Yaoxuan developed no bad habits, but he became a bit silly and naïve.

He had always been a fan of Shen Jintai, and it would be too easy for Shen Jintai to take advantage of him. Yan Qiuchi knew Yan Yaoxuan was an adult now and should have his own social rights, but his constant pining was indeed inappropriate.

As he was hesitating whether he should call Yan Yaoxuan, Gao Qiao’s name appeared on his phone.

“President Yan!” Gao Qiao said anxiously.

Yan Qiuchi replied with a “Nn”.

“I just saw Yaoxuan drunk and being helped upstairs by Shen Jintai. It seems they had gone to his room.”

After speaking, Gao Qiao held his breath. He didn’t sense any reaction from President Yan. He only got the usual response, “I see” and he hung up the call.

Yan Yaoxuan was drunk?

His younger brother had been drinking thousands of glasses since he was a child. He was best at holding his liquor. It was he who had the poorest ability to hold his liquor in the family. Under normal circumstances, it would be impossible for Yan Yaoxuan to be drunk. Unless there was some deliberate attempt.

Yan Qiuchi immediately picked up his coat and went out. Fortunately, he wasn’t staying at home today. It took about 20 minutes by car from his hotel to the crew’s hotel. On his way there, he dialed Yan Yaoxuan’s number. He heard a standard female voice on the phone saying, “The number you dialed has been turned off.”

 ……

What was Shen Jintai planning?! You couldn’t blame him for thinking too much. The sudden change in Shen Jintai’s personality couldn’t reverse the inherent image that he had left all these past years.

“Drive faster.” Yan Qiuchi said lightly to the driver.

—

Shen Jintai put Yan Yaoxuan down on the sofa with the help of the hotel clerk. After sending away the handsome clerk, he went to pick up a glass of hot water, sat down by the sofa and patted Yan Yaoxuan. “Are you thirsty? Would you like a glass of water?”

Yan Yaoxuan lay motionless on the sofa. His usually combed back hair fell loose, making his handsome face look even more childish as he slept. Although they were brothers, he and Yan Qiuchi were completely different types.

The young man was barely twenty.

Shen Jintai drank his glass of water by himself. The sound of swallowing was obvious in the silent room.

Yan Yaoxuan’s heart beat faster.

What are you going to do?! Why are you so unlucky running into Gao Qiao! God help me!

He would have to go abroad in a few days. There wasn’t much time left.

Yan Qiuchi’s mandatory order gave him the courage to desperately break the cauldron and sink the boat*.

*(破釜沉舟) Idiom refers to desperate determination. It’s a metaphor for not leaving a way out of doing things decisively. It derives from the historical records: The Benji of Xiang Yu. || Benji of Xiang Yu: (for those who are interested) is the story where Xiang Yu ordered to break the pot and scuttle the boats so the soldiers he led could not retreat from the Battle of the Giant Deer.

Wine could strengthen courage. With his stuffy chest full of pride, he intended to take advantage of the situation and pretended to be drunk. People who were drunk, no matter what they said or did, could be forgiven. They could even confess through their drunkenness. If Shen Jintai rejected his feelings, the awkwardness could be resolved afterwards.

His plan was perfect. Yet who would have thought he would run into Gao Qiao at the elevator? If Gao Qiao knew, then it would be equivalent to his big brother knowing.

He was in a difficult position. If he immediately sat up and left, he would expose the fact that he pretended to be drunk. But if he didn’t leave, stayed here and slept with Shen Jintai… His older brother would probably skin him alive, right?

Yan Yaoxuan struggled internally for a long time. As time passed, he couldn’t sit still anymore. In the end, his lust for Shen Jintai was defeated by his fear of his older brother. He pretended that he had sobered up and sat up.

The silly and pure Yan Yaoxuan was able to try acting for the first time in his life.

He squinted his eyes slightly, rubbed his head, then opened his eyes and looked around, only to realize Shen Jintai was no longer in the room. He was bewildered as he sat up and looked around. He heard the sound of running water coming from the bathroom.

Yan Yaoxuan’s spirit was revitalized. He thought Shen Jintai was showering. Thinking of such thoughts made the heat rise in his head. Selfish desire trumps reason.

He could pretend to be drunk and call out Shen Jintai’s name. If Shen Jintai heard him calling out constantly in his drunken state, he should be able to understand his intentions.

At that moment, there was a heavy knock on the door outside, and the sound of water in the bathroom suddenly stopped. Yan Yaoxuan got so frightened that he immediately laid back down.

Shen Jintai went to the bathroom and was washing his hands when he heard the sound of knocking coming from the front door. He had called Xiao Tang and asked him to drop by, so he figured it must be him.

He came pretty fast.

He quickly dried his hands and ran over to the door. As he opened it, he didn’t see Xiao Tang, but instead a tall, cold, and rigid figure of a young man was standing there with a slightly gloomy expression on his face.

It was the handsome and indifferent gentleman, Yan Qiuchi.

“Is Yaoxuan with you?” Yan Qiuchi said.

Shen Jintai nodded, a little embarrassed, and said, “He drank too much.”

When Yan Qiuchi came in, he found Yan Yaoxuan lying on the sofa. His clothes were quite neat. He came just in time.

He frowned and glanced at Yan Yaoxuan and asked Shen Jintai, “How did this happen?”

“He came to visit the crew this morning. After work, we went to dinner and drank some wine, but he drank too much and got drunk.”

Yan Qiuchi didn’t want to expose anything, so he just said, “Sorry to have bothered you. I’ll take him away.” He stretched out his hand and touched Yan Yaoxuan. “Yan Yaoxuan.”

“He probably drank too much and fell asleep,” Shen Jintai said quickly.

Yan Yaoxuan’s eyelashes were quivering.

I’m dead. I’m dead.

At this point, he could only pretend to be drunk.

Yan Qiuchi had grown up watching his younger brother. How could he not understand his own brother? Seeing his trembling eyelashes, everything became crystal clear.

It turned out that it wasn’t a Shen Jintai problem, but a younger brother problem. This kid actually pretended to be drunk. In front of Shen Jintai, Yan Qiuchi didn’t reveal his farce and only helped Yan Yaoxuan up.

Yan Yaoxuan was so afraid that he cooperated willingly, so it didn’t take much effort for Yan Qiuchi. Shen Jintai had wanted to come help, but he retracted his hand when he saw that Yan Qiuchi didn’t need any help. He also felt Yan Qiuchi might not want to have any contact with him.

Yan Qiuchi’s majestic aura became a layer of haze. He nodded at Shen Jintai and then dragged Yan Yaoxuan away. On the way to the hotel, he had asked Gao Qiao to book a room for him on the same floor. When they reached the room, Yan Yaoxuan was pushed in as the door closed.

Yan Yaoxuan was still pretending to be drunk as he sat on the sofa leaning against the wall.

“Acting again?” Yan Qiuchi said sternly.

Yan Yaoxuan finally opened his eyes. His face was red as he sat straight up.

“What are you trying to do? Are my words falling on deaf ears?”

Yan Yaoxuan was embarrassed and afraid, so he lowered his head and said nothing. Yan Qiuchi pulled open the neckline, took a bottle of mineral water from the small refrigerator, and unscrewed it. He raised his head and took a sip. The cold water couldn’t quench his thirst. After drinking it, he turned to look at Yan Yaoxuan. “Acting dumb?”

“I…” Yan Yaoxuan stammered, “I really drank a lot of wine…”

“Why are you pretending to be drunk?” Yan Qiuchi asked.

Yan Yaoxuan stopped talking.

“Go home now and the day after tomorrow, you’re going to the UK.”

Yan Yaoxuan turned his head and started to leave. When he touched the door handle with his hand, he suddenly turned his head around and walked directly to Yan Qiuchi. It looked like they were about to fight. “I… I like Xiao Jin. I want to chase him!”

He finally said it to his brother. As soon as those lines were spoken, he felt exhilarated. He had made a declaration of love to his feudal parents*.

*Clarity: Remember Yan Yaoxuan sees Yan Qiuchi more as a father figure than as a brother.

Yan Qiuchi’s expression was gloomy as Yan Yaoxuan continued, “You don’t like it? Are you not allowing me to chase him? He had an unrequited love for you but has finally let go. You two have nothing to do with each other now. Am I not allow to love him?”

“Does Shen Jintai knows?” Yan Qiuchi asked.

Yan Yaoxuan was surprised. He didn’t expect this response from his brother. “I haven’t told him yet. I was going to confess tonight.”

Yan Qiuchi sneered, “Confessing while still dependent on pretending to be drunk? How capable you are.”

“I’m an adult and I’m free to fall in love. You don’t need to worry about how I want to confess.”

“Anyone else will do, but absolutely not Shen Jintai.”

“Why not?! Just because he used to like you?”

“Because he had already climbed into my bed.” Yan Qiuchi tore open his collar, revealing the bite marks that had almost faded. “He begged me to fuck him, and he bit my neck. Do you think it’s appropriate to have such a person as your partner?”

Yan Yaoxuan’s face flushed.

He knew about how Shen Jintai had chased after his brother. On the one hand, he was sad and jealous. On the other hand, he admired him for daring to love and hate. He just didn’t realize the extent of what Shen Jintai had said and done.

But his brother would never lie about this.

He was speechless. He didn’t know how to respond and just said, “But he… He has changed now. Even you can see that he has…”

“There are things that you can change, but you can never change the past,” Yan Qiuchi said. “Unless you no longer recognize me as your older brother, do not think about this anymore.”

Yan Yaoxuan wanted to cry. All his excitement had been completely drained.

It was too easy for Yan Qiuchi to control the situation. He had just slapped him and then gave him a sweet jujube*. He eased his tone and said, “You are not suitable for him. He will not like you.”

*(打个巴掌，给颗甜枣) Refers to giving punishment and reward together (aka carrot and stick method).

Yan Yaoxuan’s tone was aggrieved. “How do you know that he won’t like me…”

“You should know the answer in your own heart,” Yan Qiuchi said.

No one knew what kind of man Shen Jintai liked better than him. Shen Jintai’s fascination with Yan Qiuchi was sincere and enthusiastic. He couldn’t lie about it. What Shen Jintai liked was the type like Yan Qiuchi, while he was completely different.

Shen Jintai had changed and no longer stalked his brother, but a person’s preferences would not change. It was impossible that he liked spicy food yesterday but suddenly liked sweet food the next morning.

Yan Yaoxuan’s eyes were red. He already knew the answer long ago, deep in his heart. It was just that Shen Jintai suddenly didn’t like his older brother anymore and was available again. He felt that he should at least give it a try.

“But I still want to give it a try.” He looked at Yan Qiuchi. “Brother, please let me try. Otherwise, I’m afraid I’ll regret it for the rest of my life. You may not know this, but I have been secretly in love with him for many years.”

Yan Qiuchi had already expected this, but hearing it come out of Yan Yaoxuan’s own mouth surprised him. His lips were tightly pursed and he remained silent. The muscles under his chin moved slightly. His eyebrows furrowed.

“Since he used to like you, I dared not speak out, but now he no longer has feelings for you, and there’s no one I like around me. Even if I’m unsuccessful, at least I won’t have regrets in the future. I like him no less than he liked you.”

“You know, many things have happened between me and him,” Yan Qiuchi said. “Knowing all that, you still won’t hold any grudges?”

Yan Yaoxuan said nothing.

Yan Qiuchi glanced at him, feeling a little irritable, and said, “Do as you please. I have said everything that needs to be said.”

“Then I will chase him,” Yan Yaoxuan said.

“You can go confess now,” Yan Qiuchi said. “Let’s see how he will reply to you.”

Yan Yaoxuan walked out when he heard this. He really wanted to find Shen Jintai and confess.

When Yan Yaoxuan left, Yan Qiuchi lit a cigarette. He suddenly worried that Shen Jintai would agree.

It was no longer possible for him and Shen Jintai. He made it perfectly clear during their last encounter. Shen Jintai probably also came to this realization as he went to erase the tattoo and had stopped pestering him. He even changed his looks.

But Shen Jintai’s giving up was too passive. According to his personality, he might truly not have given up. He was also willing to do anything, so it wouldn’t be impossible to use Yan Yaoxuan’s feelings to retaliate against him.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt that he had made a mistake just now and shouldn’t have let Yan Yaoxuan confess. He still believed Shen Jintai was still in love with him.

How could a person suddenly stop loving someone? Shen Jintai had madly loved him for such a long time. How could those feelings just vanish in just a few days?

Yan Qiuchi felt that he wasn’t ruthless enough just now. He should have been more forceful and made Yan Yaoxuan listen to him, then sent him abroad. Time could always cool things down.

He smoked one cigarette after another irritably, then raised his hand and looked at his watch. It had been more than ten minutes. He opened his door and prepared to go to Shen Jintai’s room. As he walked out, he saw Yan Yaoxuan sitting on the sofa in the corridor, lost in thought, with his head buried in between his knees.

He was taken aback for a moment and walked up to Yan Yaoxuan.

Yan Yaoxuan raised his head; his eyes were red, and his expression was very hurt.

“Did you confess?”

“Yes,” Yan Yaoxuan said. Shen Jintai had rejected him.

Yan Qiuchi’s resolute chin twitched slightly. He was surprised.

“Brother…” Yan Yaoxuan stretched out his hand and grabbed his trousers as tears fell. He was not only sad, but he regretted it. He regretted that he confessed on an impulse and then ate behind closed doors*.

*( 闭门羹) Idiom refers to refusing a guest to enter the door and letting them eat at the door. The English equivalent is given the cold-shoulder. || Basically he got rejected.

“Okay, stop crying and chirping. Let’s go. I’ll take you home,” Yan Qiuchi said.

Yan Yaoxuan stood up and followed him in the direction of the elevator.

When the two walked past the door of Shen Jintai’s room, they discovered that Shen Jintai was half-concealed, standing at the foot of the door. His face looked a little embarrassed.

Yan Yaoxuan stopped. Yan Qiuchi also looked at Shen Jintai.

Shen Jintai stood up straight, looking extraordinarily upright. Yan Qiuchi was still immersed in the consternation that Shen Jintai had rejected his younger brother. Looking at Shen Jintai again, he couldn’t help feeling it was really a different person. Even his face was unfamiliar.

Shen Jintai really didn’t like him anymore. On the contrary, it was he who remained in the past and seemed self-conscious. He felt that seeing everything that happened today and all the thoughts that he had, he was slapped in the face by reality.

The two Yan brothers sat in the car and didn’t say a word to each other. Both of them were in a very heavy mood.

Yan Qiuchi thought that he wasn’t a self-indulgent person. Since he was a child, countless people had liked him, and he was aware of their feelings. He had thought the other party had liked him, but in fact, they held no such feelings. This was the first time in his life he had run into this situation.

At that moment, he received a message from Shen Jintai.

Yan Qiuchi looked at it as the screen lit up his eyebrows.

[You can rest assured.]

---

The author has something to say:

The first time you encountered this kind of thing? Then you still have many firsts.

Yan Qiuchi: I don’t feel relieved right now.

---

Kinky Thoughts:

Happy New Year everyone. Let’s start off the new year with a bang! 5 chapters incoming.

Awww Yan Yaoxuan!!! My heart breaks for you! I really like Yan Yaoxuan. So cute! So cuddly! I think I would be happy for a Shen Jintai x Yan Yaoxuan pairing! If it hadn’t been for the previous Shen Jintai, I think Yan Yaoxuan would really have had a good chance!

Perhaps he’ll find love with Bai Qingquan. I’m still rooting for that pairing as well.

And oof damn! Shen Jintai hitting back with the shade!!! That is some nice face slapping right there~ Yan Qiuchi gonna be chasing that wife for a longgggg time in the crematorium.

Side note: How can you not love Yan Yaoxuan! He’s the most adorable! Look at that face!! I just want to squeeze it!

---

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

Author: 公子于歌 / Gong Zi Yu Ge

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

---

Chapter 31: Pretending to be Drunk

Shen Jintai was very excited. He brewed on it for a while before he suppressed the excitement in his heart and returned to the state he should be in. He looked at himself in the mirror. His eyes were still a little red.

He no longer had tears, but his eyes were still puffy. He had light makeup on today, making his face look very fragile and pure.

He washed his hands, calmed his emotions, and came out of the bathroom, running into Yan Yaoxuan. Yan Yaoxuan’s eyes were very hot when he saw him. The first time he had experienced the feeling of enthusiasm and adoration from a fan was in Yan Yaoxuan’s eyes.

“I forgot that you’re still here,” Shen Jintai said with a smile. “It’s so late. Aren’t you going back?”

“Didn’t you say you’d finish work by 10?” Yan Yaoxuan said. “I’m waiting for you so we can have dinner together.”

Shen Jintai couldn’t refuse. He knew he had been waiting for him all day. “Okay.”

Yan Yaoxuan followed him and said, “Xiao Jin, you acted so well.”

Another person who was caught by his acting skills! Shen Jintai felt that this kind of compliment was better than being praised for his looks. He gave Yan Yaoxuan a smile. His whole body seemed to glow brightly; he was a calm and confident figure that had a beaming smile. Yan Yaoxuan’s heart pounded wildly.

Shen Jintai’s appearance really exuded an indescribable charm from the inside out.

He had now accumulated eight points, which meant he was two points away from getting his killer waist. He wasn’t very interested in the sexy reward system. He rather look forward to the beauty rewards. He was determined to secure those last two points as soon as possible.

—

Shen Jintai was more restrained this time around, and the scene passed smoothly. When Zheng Siqi hugged him, he couldn’t help but feel full of warmth. Zheng Siqi was straight, yet in this moment, he felt a bit strange from the touch.

When the director yelled cut, he let go of Shen Jintai, blushed, and gave a shy smile.

In today’s scene, Zheng Siqi also performed very well. After a few days of filming, he had entered a good state. As a newcomer, his acting skills were already considered good, mainly because his temperament matched Zhou Ying’s. He was very pure and handsome and had a heroic aura. Playing the white moonlight in the drama, as long as he performed his role well, he could lie down and suck powder after the broadcast.

The next scene was a one-man show with Bai Qingquan. Zhou Jing was pacing back and forth in the hall, hesitant about whether he should save Li Xu. His personal feelings and grand ambitions were being tangled and swayed.

Bai Qingquan’s silhouette was semi-hidden in the shadows as the candlelight in the hall swayed. Seeing that Shen Jintai was talking with the cast and crew, he turned around and left the studio.

……

He had been contemplating his scene. He originally wanted to show Shen Jintai his strength, but it turns out Shen Jintai wasn’t paying any attention, which only made him depressed. While in this state, he was shocked by his own thoughts. He felt like he was a student who had just completed his homework and was waiting for the teacher to praise him. However, the teacher didn’t notice his efforts, causing him to feel disappointed.

When was Shen Jintai his teacher?! It had been only a few days since the shooting began! Why did he have such weird ideas?!

Shen Jintai originally wanted to rest a bit, but because he was afraid that Yan Yaoxuan would wait too long, he came out first, took off his makeup hastily, and left with Yan Yaoxuan.

“I think Bai Qingquan has an RV. Can you get one too?” Yan Yaoxuan asked.

“We’re currently doing studio shootings right now, which is close to the hotel, so I don’t need it,” Shen Jintai said. He might be able to use it later when they are filming on location. With his current income, he had enough to buy one, albeit a second-hand one.

Yan Yaoxuan’s cellphone suddenly rang. It was Yan Qiuchi calling. He felt nervous and decided not to answer. As a result, the phone rang again after two minutes. Yan Yaoxuan didn’t dare ignore it a second time.

“You stayed with the crew today?” Yan Qiuchi got straight to the point.

Yan Yaoxuan whispered “Nn”, but with Shen Jintai by his side, it gave him greater courage. “Yes. “

Yan Qiuchi paused on the other end. Yan Yaoxuan knew immediately what his brother’s appearance currently was, calm and collected with sharp eyebrows. The silence said it all. He was finished.  

“I’m… just heading back,” Yan Yaoxuan said.

“I asked my assistant to buy you a ticket for the day after tomorrow. If you have any friends you want to meet tomorrow, do it. Then you should get ready and pack.”

Yan Qiuchi hung up after speaking, not even giving him a chance to refute. His mood was a little irritable after the exchange. He stood up and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window. It was already late at night, and the streets of Nancheng stretched out endlessly like crossed fire dragons.

What was his younger brother doing? Did he want to chase Shen Jintai?

Not to mention the question of whether it was suitable or not, Shen Jintai had chased him. Yan Yaoxuan, as his younger brother, shouldn’t have these kinds of thoughts.

Lately, news of Shen Jintai had a lot of peachy topics, such as that ass.

Yan Qiuchi felt that the recent Shen Jintai seemed to be holding back something. His body revealed a kind of restlessness that was about to break out. He had a sudden change of personality, solid acting skills, and… there was that ass.

He felt annoyed whenever he thought about the ass. It always unconsciously reminded him of the dream he had the other night. He shouldn’t have touched it. But he grabbed it, accidentally touched it, as if his hand was no longer in his control.

He didn’t know why, but he felt his skin hunger had become more serious recently. When he was sleeping, he always felt that his arms were empty. Waking up in the morning, this abnormal emotion would affect his mood.

Well, he had always been clear about rules and regulations. He would toss these feelings to the back of his mind once he got up. These dreams didn’t bewitch him senselessly. To him, Shen Jintai was still his most disliked person in the world.

—

Yan Qiuchi’s phone call ruined Yan Yaoxuan’s good mood.

“Did you want to go home?” Shen Jintai asked.

“No.” Yan Yaoxuan pursed his lips and said, “He was just asking.” Seeing Shen Jintai was so close in front of him, infinite courage rose in his heart again.

His heart was still hot, and he asked Shen Jintai, “I thought you took on this drama to make money, but I didn’t expect you to be so good. When this show is broadcast, you’ll definitely be popular.”

Shen Jintai chuckled. “The main reason is that the book is well written. When you encounter such a good book, you can’t have a clear conscience if you don’t act well.”

“Will you return to the stage in the future?” Yan Yaoxuan asked. He felt Shen Jintai on the stage was stunning. It was strange, but he felt the Shen Jintai who was filming was also dazzling, but they had two different sensations. The idol Shen Jintai was flirtatious, wild, and full of heat, while the actor Shen Jintai was confident and firm with a bright radiance.

He deeply liked and admired both versions.

Shen Jintai was taken aback when he heard this. He never thought about returning to the stage and becoming a singer and dancer. The thought was inexplicably exciting. In the future, once he gains a foothold in the film and television industry, it wouldn’t be impossible for him to return to the stage and give it a try.

As an actor, you must be adventurous and try new things.

There were a lot of restaurants in the film and television city. Stars would often come to eat at these places, so they weren’t really surprised by their appearances. Shen Jintai and Yan Yaoxuan followed the waiter to the second floor. When they were about to enter a private room, a little girl happened to come out of the room next door and almost bumped into Shen Jintai. Yan Yaoxuan stood in the way forcefully and guarded Shen Jintai behind him. The girl looked tipsy, probably from drinking too much wine as her face was flushed. She hurriedly apologized.

“It’s okay.” Shen Jintai said with a smile.

The little girl glanced at him, as if she recognized him and was surprised.

Yan Yaoxuan had already taken Shen Jintai into the private room.

The restaurant was in an old building. There was only a thin wall between each of the private rooms, so noises could be heard next door. Not long after they had taken their seats, they heard a voice next door saying, “Guess who I ran into when I went to the bathroom just now?”

“Who is it?”

“Shen Jintai!”

The room’s noises became chaotic.

Shen Jintai became a little excited. It was the first time he had been recognized in the film and television city. He was usually dressed in a low-key manner. With different stars of all shapes and sizes coming here to eat often, no one really noticed who he was when he came here to eat. They may recognize him, but they didn’t necessarily regard him as a star.

Big name stars who were bursting with popularity were recognized wherever they went. For them, this was a worry. For him, a little star who struggled for many years, being able to be recognized on the street gave him a sense of accomplishment.

He was dressed too casually today, so it seemed like he didn’t exude a star-quality persona. Next time he came here, he would have to clean himself up a little bit more.

Because he was filming, Shen Jintai paid great attention to his diet. When ordering, he ordered all light dishes. While waiting for the waiter to serve their dishes, he got up and went to the bathroom. As he left the private room, he saw the little girl who almost bumped into him. Behind her were two girls. They looked at him shyly.

Yan Yaoxuan was more aware of precautions, so he followed Shen Jintai out and glanced into the corridor. When he saw the three little girls, his face darkened as he asked, “What’s the matter?”

One of the little girls looked at Shen Jintai and asked, “Excuse me, are you Shen Jintai?”

Shen Jintai nodded and saw that the three girls were so excited they almost jumped. “We are gold powders!”

Shen Jintai smiled and said, “Are you eating here too?”

“We are right next door!” The little girl asked excitedly, “I didn’t expect to run into you here… Can we take a picture with you?”

Shen Jintai smiled and said, “Sure.”

When they heard he had agreed, all three girls squealed with delight. They asked Yan Yaoxuan to take the picture for them. Seeing that it was gold powders, Yan Yaoxuan’s expression improved a lot. He took the girls’ phones and took several pictures for them.

“A few of us fans are here for the open set visit on the weekend. We came to the city a few days in advance. We originally wanted to go visit the crew on set to see you, but they were very strict and didn’t let us in. We really didn’t expect to meet you here!” The leading girl was so excited her eyes were red.

This feeling of being loved was really contagious. Shen Jintai was moved, so he chatted with the girls for a while. After the little girls reluctantly left, Shen Jintai went to the bathroom. He was more thrilled than the fans he had just met. It felt so good to be loved, and that feeling recharged his fighting spirit.

As he was about to exit the bathroom stall, he heard someone talking nearby. When he heard his name, he paused.

“Was that Shen Jintai just now? I’ve been seeing him on the news recently. He’s changed a lot.”

“Is it the one who chased a man and went into bankruptcy?”

“It’s him. He’s here to shoot <The East Palace is Coming>, right?”

“Speaking of which, I’m not convinced. At the beginning of this year, I also went to the <East Palace> crew to audition. Don’t you know how many big names were there? In the end, the selected actors were more reliable one after another, with the exception of Shen Jintai, who got mixed in. His acting skills… Tsk tsk.”

“If you have capital that you can bring into the production…”

“Bring my ass. Shen Jintai went bankrupt a long time ago, right? If he had money on hand, why would he select this drama with Bai Qingquan as the lead?”

The speaker was a tall, thin man. When he noticed a person coming out of the stall, he glanced back. Seeing that it was Shen Jintai, he trembled and almost peed on his hand. All three of them watched in silence as Shen Jintai walked to the sink nonchalantly, as if he hadn’t heard anything.  

The three of them hurriedly zipped up their pants and left.

Shen Jintai didn’t care about these things. The original Shen Jintai had a bad reputation, so it wasn’t surprising what these people thought of him. When he first read the novel, he also had the same opinion as them.

Anyways, he knew that he wasn’t like this, and he also believed that when <The East Palace is Coming> was going to be broadcast in the future, everyone would notice his changes. His explosive acting skills alone would surprise these people. Hearing those voices discussing his acting skills made him more eager. He would relish when they get face slapped once the drama airs.

The harder they stepped on him, the more swollen their faces would be in the future.

He didn’t know if the enthusiasm from a few of his fans had infected him. His chest was filled with ambition and drive. He wanted fire. He was burning. He wanted to use his strength to cover up the entire black history he previously had.

When he returned to the private room, the dishes were already set. Shen Jintai sat down and said, “They came so fast.”

“What kind of wine do you want to drink?” Yan Yaoxuan asked. “They have three different kinds here. You can choose.”

“I won’t drink,” Shen Jintai said. “I have to film tomorrow.”

“Drink some,” Yan Yaoxuan encouraged. “It’s boring for me to drink alone.”

“You’re driving yet you’re drinking?”

“I can find a substitute driver. I’m happy today and would like to have a drink.”

Shen Jintai didn’t want to spoil his fun, so he accompanied him for a drink. However, Yan Yaoxuan could really drink. He kept emptying one glass after another. If it weren’t for his excited and energetic expression, Shen Jintai would have suspected that he was drinking to drown out his sorrows.

He felt that Yan Yaoxuan, just like those girls, was also a fan of his and this excitement came from being able to eat with one’s idol.

It made him recall how Yan Yaoxuan was also a very pitiful cannon fodder. Because his older brother was the protagonist, he was crushed everywhere. His feelings were even more pitiful. Later in the novel, he fell in love with Bai Qingquan and struggled to fight against his brother for his love but was miserably defeated.

Thinking of this, he specifically asked Yan Yaoxuan how he felt about Bai Qingquan. He remembered in the original novel that Yan Yaoxuan fell in love with Bai Qingquan when he was filming <The East Palace is Coming>.

“Looks pretty,” Yan Yaoxuan said drunkenly.

Sure enough, this was a vain society. Shen Jintai smiled, causing Yan Yaoxuan to become excited. Shen Jintai’s lips looked mesmerizing, especially after he drank some wine.

Because of the bright lip color, his whole complexion seemed to have improved. His skin was glowing, and his presence was more vivid. The wine stains around his mouth made people want to…

Yan Yaoxuan really wanted to kiss him. And this kiss, he thought, would be an exhilarating kiss. He would bite his lips and lick the wine stains off them. He had thousands of fantasies whether he thought about it carefully. All he needed was those red lips to ignite the flame in him.

Admiration like this, between a fan and their idol, because the distance was far apart, made feelings more profound. There seemed to be light glowing from Shen Jintai’s eyes.

An angel. Yan Yaoxuan was lost in his thoughts as he drank another glass of wine. He drank it so abruptly that he started to choke on it.

Shen Jintai quickly poured him a cup of tea and handed it over. Yan Yaoxuan supported his chin with one hand and lay on the table with a flushed face, as if he was drunk. When drinking the tea, his hands trembled.

Shen Jintai didn’t expect Yan Yaoxuan to drink this much. Seeing him drink so hard, he thought Yan Yaoxuan could handle his liquor.

Yan Yaoxuan laid there motionless, as Shen Jintai took a few bites of his food. He then stood up and went over to help Yan Yaoxuan up.

“Are you going back home or…?” he asked Yan Yaoxuan.

Yan Yaoxuan said, “Not home… Won’t go back. “

The Yan’s mansion was too far from here. It would take at least two hours to drive back. Seeing no other option, Shen Jintai decided to take Yan Yaoxuan back to the hotel first.

Yan Yaoxuan wasn’t as big as his brother, but he was still a sturdy guy who was more than 1.8 meters tall. Shen Jintai couldn’t carry him by himself, so he had to ask the driver for help. The two of them carried Yan Yaoxuan into the hotel lobby. Shen Jintai then called a hotel clerk over, and they together carried Yan Yaoxuan to the elevator.

Yan Yaoxuan was drunk and was being mischievous. He kept rubbing his head on Shen Jintai’s shoulder. The elevator suddenly stopped at a floor and the doors opened. There were several people standing around outside.

Unfortunately, one of them was Gao Qiao.

Gao Qiao instantly recognized Yan Yaoxuan and was stunned when he saw him leaning drunkenly on Shen Jintai’s shoulder. “Yaoxuan,” he yelled.

Yan Yaoxuan trembled in his heart, ‘Shit.’

“Why is he here?” Gao Qiao asked Shen Jintai.

“He came to visit the set and drank too much wine while eating and got a little drunk. “

Gao Qiao was speechless as he stared at the elevator. The door was closing, and Shen Jintai hurriedly asked, “Are you… coming in?” He was Yan Qiuchi’s assistant, after all, so Shen Jintai felt he needed to be polite.

Gao Qiao shook his head as the elevator door closed.

My god.

Gao Qiao came to the hotel to talk to the executive director. He didn’t expect to run into such a situation. Of course, he had to report this to President Yan!

---

The author has something to say:

Gao Qiao: “President Yan, come and save your little brother!”

Yan Yaoxuan: “Fuck!”

---

Kinky Thoughts:

Someone’s in trouble.

---

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

Author: 公子于歌 / Gong Zi Yu Ge

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

---

Chapter 30: Acting Day for Bai Yueguang

Shen Jintai’s ass started picking up heat. A quick search on Weibo, forums, and Baidu would have posts regarding his butt. The search almost climbed to the end of the hot search list, but it soon died down. Fortunately, it didn’t gain too much traction. Otherwise, Shen Jintai wouldn’t be able to show his face in public again with the hot search titled “Shen Jintai’s ass” hanging above him.

Li Meilan was eating peanuts while looking at Shen Jintai who was sweating profusely next to her. “Are you tired from filming? You should take a break.”

Shen Jintai hummed and shook his head as he happily exercised. Steam seemed to be rising from him. He had been following Coach Li’s regime. He wanted to turn his peerless ass into an electric small motor.

It is not unusual for a male star to have an ass, but the reason why his ass caused such a big response was mainly because of his identity. He was, after all, the most popular openly gay man in the entertainment industry.

A male celebrity had an ass that he wanted others to see, while Shen Jintai had an ass that he wanted to use. There was a huge difference between seeing and using. How could it not be exciting?!

Yan Yaoxuan was lying on the bed, constantly looking at the poster. His thoughts were surging. In a few days, it would be September, and he would have to return to school. He was going to school abroad, which would separate him 18,000 miles away from Shen Jintai. He was afraid that he wouldn’t be the first to board the water tower*. He must do something before he leaves.

*Idiom referring to getting priority due to proximity. || In this context, it means he’s worried about not being close to Shen Jintai (due to being abroad), so he won’t have the chance to make his move.

He used to like Shen Jintai for his dazzling appearance when he was onstage. It always made him shiver like an M. Shen Jintai would pursue his brother but completely ignore his love, which only deepened his infatuation with his idol. If he looked at Shen Jintai too intently, it would cause him to blush.

Yan Yaoxuan didn’t realize that Shen Jintai had such an ass. He reached out to put the poster down, but he couldn’t fall asleep after seeing it. His heart felt warm, and his body was heating up. He felt so itchy inside.

—

As the number one fan of this drama, no one paid more attention to its dynamics than Mrs. Yan. She especially paid careful attention to the official blog of <The East Palace is Coming> and asked Yan Qiuchi about its latest development.

“I heard Xiao Jin say the trailer would be released soon.”

Yan Qiuchi said, “I don’t know.”

“You’re the boss and you don’t know?”

“Just because I’m the boss doesn’t mean I’m in charge of everything,” Yan Qiuchi said.

He didn’t like to talk about Shen Jintai with his mother, something Mrs. Yan also understood in her heart, but today’s Shen Jintai was no longer the Shen Jintai of the past. She hoped that he would continue to improve and become an even better person with each passing day so that her ignorant* son would come to regret it.

*Doesn’t know the goods (不识货) Idiom meaning doesn’t understand the true value of things.

She had also seen the new poster. It looked simple and less colorful, yet it remained sophisticated. Shen Jintai looked very seductive.

Yan Yaoxuan wanted to chime in several times but refrained from doing so. He knew his brother didn’t want to talk about it, especially when it involved Shen Jintai. He could only blame himself for being too timid and dared not cross his older brother.

Yan Qiuchi suddenly turned to him and asked, “What day are you leaving?”

Yan Yaoxuan said, “The first.”

“That’s a few days away. You’re not leaving early?”

Yan Yaoxuan remained silent.

“You’ve been playing around for the past three months. It’s time to get serious. If you can’t graduate, I won’t spare you.”

Yan Qiuchi was exceedingly strict. Even his father, Yan Tiefeng, wasn’t as harsh.

Yan Yaoxuan interrupted, “Mom, dad hasn’t been home for a long time.”

“He came back yesterday but left again after sleeping for a night. He’s going to City A to attend a government meeting and said he won’t be back until the day after tomorrow.”

“Recently, a female star has been spreading rumors of an affair with dad.” This was commonplace, so Yan Yaoxuan didn’t have any strong feelings when talking about it.

Mrs. Yan smiled. “Is it the same one as last time? Why does an unmarried girl waste her money on such things?”

Mrs. Yan was very firm. She was a daughter from a wealthy and influential family and had no tolerance for sand in her eyes*. She had told Yan Tiefeng since her marriage that if she ever found out he had cheated, she would divorce him immediately. While she didn’t verbally tell him, she had thought it. Even now, being married for many years and their relationship had been harmonious, she could still break it off.

*Idiom describing something that is not in line with someone’s wishes and must not be tolerated.

Yan Tiefeng also knew that it had been very peaceful over the years. Mrs. Yan oversaw the household accounts and developed a habit of reporting on it every day.

Mrs. Yan applied her view on marriage when it came to raising the Yan brothers. Although they were members of one of the most prominent and wealthy families, Yan Qiuchi and Yan Yaoxan had been very mindful in their private lives. Yan Qiuchi had a neat and strict personality like herself, while Yan Yaoxuan had a more outgoing personality but never messed around.

“I will handle this matter,” Yan Qiuchi said.

Yan Qiuchi was strict in self-discipline and had applied this standard to others, especially when it came to feelings and sex. He had long wanted to clean up this female star who had been vying for his father, a married man.

Mrs. Yan was pleased. Although her son had a cold character, he had the ability to take care of these kinds of matters. Despite his young age, he already had the aptitude suitable for being the next head of the household. He also had the potential to be a good husband. If one had a husband like this, they would never worry about infidelity. He would be able to handle everything from fixing the lightbulb to withstanding the storm.

It was just his shortcoming was in his taste, but no one was perfect. She wanted to leave a good man like this to Xiao Jin.

After Yan Qiuchi left for work, Yan Yaoxuan said to Mrs. Yan, “Mom, they’re going to allow set visits starting this weekend.”

Mrs. Yan said, “I know. Xiao Jin told me on WeChat.”

“Then why do you still ask brother?” Yan Yaoxuan said.

Mrs. Yan glanced at him and shook her head. Her son’s IQ really wasn’t good.

“Should we go?” Yan Yaoxuan asked again.

“We’ve just been there. I’m getting too old to do this multiple times.”

“I want to go again before school starts. It’ll be Chinese New Year before I come back again,” Yan Yaoxuan said.

“If you want to go, you can go,” Mrs. Yan said. “Speaking of which, at least you still have a conscience. Your older brother is so indifferent. There’ll come a day where he’ll regret it.”

“Then if brother inquires about it, I’ll tell him you asked me to go.”

Mrs. Yan turned her head and gave him a questioning look. Yan Yaoxuan lowered his head and said, “Every time I come into contact with Xiao Jin, brother gets upset and scolds me.”

Mrs. Yan frowned when she heard this. “This Yan Qiuchi…”

Yan Yaoxuan got the approval of Mrs. Yan and immediately drove his sports car to the set. He stayed on set for just a day. Shen Jintai had many scenes that day and didn’t pay him any heed, but he still watched the filming with relish, like a child. During lunch, he bought the entire crew their meals.

It was no secret as everyone knew he was President Yan’s younger brother, the second son of the Yan family. Bai Qingquan looked at him secretly as makeup was being applied to him. Yan Yaoxuan was a handsome little fresh meat. He was tall, slender, and white. It wasn’t bad either that he was the younger brother of President Yan.

While President Yan looked more serious, his younger brother looked more amiable. He always smiled when he saw anyone, but his eyes always remained focused on Shen Jintai. It was obvious that he was obsessed with him.

Thinking about Shen Jintai, Bai Qingquan couldn’t help but feel pain in his heart. He doubted whether he had made the correct choice. Maybe he should have chosen the role of Li Xu instead, as it seemed more sensational. Especially in the first few episodes, when the male and female leads were still in the stage of growth. Li Xu, as the beautiful and scheming little eunuch, was the main attraction for these episodes. Bai Qingquan felt that once the show started airing, all the heat would be sucked away by Shen Jintai.

When he first read the script, Li Xu’s character in his mind should be beautiful and romantic. If Liu Hui had come to play it, it would have aligned more with his expectations. Unexpectedly, Shen Jintai got the part and changed Li Xu’s characteristics. He didn’t have the prettiest appearance, but he made the character more fierce, morose, and seductive. The seductive aura was wrapped in calculated ambitions and ferocious lust that was restrained and scorching.

She Jintai was in the middle of filming. It was the scene where he was flogged by the Empress. As the scene wrapped up, the work crew helped Shen Jintai change into a robe. The robe was tattered and stained with blood. Shen Jintai’s long hair was scattered, and the makeup artist was spraying water on his face. As the water wetted his clothes and body, it gave him a pitiful yet sensual appearance.

The main reason why Shen Jintai looked this good was because of his body, mainly his ass. While other male stars may have a similar ass and could make it look tempting, on them it would feel tacky. With Shen Jintai’s tall and slender figure combined with his cold sex appeal, it didn’t give off any feminine vibe. It was truly a superb male’s ass.

For today’s scene, Bai Qingquan, despite being the male lead, was just a background character. This was once the home court of Shen Jintai and Zheng Siqi.

After finishing the makeup, Bai Qingquan returned to his position.

Shen Jintai pulled down his robe again, wiped a handful of blood on his shoulders, and went to the director’s side. Shen Jintai had been like this for the past few days. He usually joked and mingled with the people around him, but once filming started, he became extremely firm and serious.

In this way, he exuded such a weird aura that people couldn’t help but anticipate his performance.

Bai Qingquan licked his lips as his Adam’s apple bobbed while he stared at Shen Jintai. In the past few days, Shen Jintai’s ass had aroused tons of discussion. It made him even more furious that his poster was not as sophisticated as Shen Jintai’s! His ass was also good, but more so, it was his legs that were especially beautiful! Long and white, it was well worth it to make it to the hot search for “Bai Qingquan’s legs”.

But Bai Qingquan had no intention of dwelling on these issues. In the past two days, his whole mind was focused on Shen Jintai’s acting skills. He had been severely beaten in every scene. It wasn’t about Shen Jintai’s ass that were tightly wrapped around in his robes, but it was his expressiveness.

He looked back at the performance that night. Both Guo Rui and Shen Jintai did an amazing job. After watching the scene, he felt like dying, especially the scene between Shen Jintai and Zheng Siqi. Every single moment was absolutely stunning. Last night’s shot was the lovemaking scene between Li Xu and Zhou Ying. It was one of the few heartfelt scenes between the two characters. Even he felt sympathetic when he watched it.

Zheng Siqi, the little fresh meat, was so exquisite, sentimental, and handsome. Shen Jintai, this chicken*, didn’t know how lucky he was.

*[Sao ji] (骚鸡) Slang referring to an online community basically made up of “sisters”. || In this context, Bai Qingquan is referring to Shen Jintai as his own (in terms of being gay) so it’s like saying this slut/bitch/sis but not in a demeaning way but rather playful (think gay guys calling their friends bitches, ect.).

He could only fall in love with girls right now.

Ugh.

He wasn’t sure if it was because he cared too much, but every time it was Shen Jintai’s scenes, he would pay great attention to them. The more he paid attention, the more he felt that Shen Jintai’s acting skills were solid. Occasionally he would feel, “Wow, this detail was handled too well.” It became a vicious cycle.

“This little prickly worm is really good at making scenes of hooking up with boys!”

The scene of the flogging today was extremely emotional, with a climax in the front and constant agitation in the back. Bai Qingquan wasn’t sure how Shen Jintai would perform. He was both anxious and scared as he looked forward to it.

The one who liked Shen Jintai the most was Song Wei, who played Empress Xiao. Today was the scene between her and Shen Jintai. The addicted to acting veteran actress had been around for a long time and today was about to show her hand.

For filming, it was about being able to shoot with people who could capture the essence of the scene. The flogging scene between Empress Xiao and Li Xu was very good because the two of them acted heartily.

The entertainment industry should have this kind of younger generation leading the way. Young actors these days act like ghosts. Bai Qingqun, who was only slightly qualified, was considered to be an emperor. It wasn’t that Bai Qingquan deserved his golden bell, but because the other actors were just too garbage.

Guo Rui: “Come on. We’re ready to start shooting. Three, two, one, action!”

Li Xu got up from the ground. Seeing his miserable state, Prince Zhou Ying, who was standing next to Empress Xiao, suddenly stood up.

“Put him in a silk bag and throw him into the ditch.” Empress Xiao’s voice was majestic. “With you as an example who else will dare defile the harem!”

“Mother…” Zhou Ying said anxiously.

Empress Xiao glanced at him gloomily. “As a prince, you’re not as clearheaded as your second brother. He has been with you for only a few days but has served your second brother for years. Now that he has committed such a crime, do you not suspect anything from your second brother? He is also the son of an emperor.”

Zhou Ying looked at Zhou Jing, whose expression remained serious and silent.

The eunuchs put Li Xu into a silk bag and carried him out of the East Palace. Li Xu’s hair was messy. He was dripping with blood as they carried him upside down. His eyes were half open as he glanced at Zhou Jing. A smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

Despite the many people around on set, the scene was quiet. There were only slight noises coming from the machinery. Bai Qingquan’s eyes met Shen Jintai’s, which seemed to have pulled him into the scene. His throat moved, and his eyes were red as he turned to look elsewhere.

Shen Jintai’s scenes today were miserable, but he was dedicated. The ditch for the scene had been sprayed with water, causing it to be mucky and muddy. As he was thrown in, dirty water splashed in his face. After filming this scene, the crew pulled him up and asked him to rinse out his mouth, but Shen Jintai refused.

“No, I don’t want to break the emotions,” he said to the director.

Shen Jintai remained in the ditch the entire time as the crew prepared for the next shot. He was a little bit crazy when it came to acting. The hardships he suffered were for the creation of art. He didn’t feel bitter at all but rather excited.

Li Xu was heavily injured when he was thrown in the ditch. He was exposed to the rain all night as he lied in the dirty water. This kind of direct physical feeling entered the scene far more easily than any psychological empathy.

Zhou Ying personally jumped into the ditch and fished him out.

At this point in the drama, Li Xu was heavily injured and had few lines. However, Shen Jintai felt that this was actually an important milestone in his relationship with Prince Zhou Ying.

Li Xu took the initiative to seduce the crown prince to repay a favor to the second prince. He had a hurtful heart for the crown prince and had no real feelings for him. He wasn’t afraid of death and was willing to die for his cause. Yet, in the process of dying, his views changed. On the verge of his demise, death came wrapped in the cold rain of the night. He was determined to die, yet he was now faced with fear. The warm heat from Zhou Ying’s embrace calmed his heart.

He won the bet but also lost it. He won this game and lost his entire life.

The candlelight was swaying. Only he and the crown prince were there in the middle of the night.

Zhou Ying, “I will only ask you one question. Did you intentionally approach me? Was it all because of second brother’s instigation as mother said?”

Li Xu raised his head in a daze. His lips trembled as tears fell. He called out, “A’Ying*…”

*A (阿) When put in front of a name, it’s a way to call someone’s name in an intimate manner.

Zhou Ying had already shed tears first. He hugged him and said, “I will never doubt you again.”

Li Xu shouldn’t have cried in this scene, but when Shen Jintai was hugged by Zheng Siqi, he couldn’t help but burst into tears.

“Cut!” Guo Rui stood up and shouted. “Jintai, collect your tears.”

This was Shen Jintai’s seventh NG in the past few days.

Zheng Siqi let go of him and was quite surprised. He wiped the tears from his face and stared at Shen Jintai. The two of them gazed at each other. Shen Jintai smiled, but his tears fell even more fiercely.

“Sorry. Give me a minute.” He raised his hand, then lowered his head to cover his eyes. He cried inexplicably in this scene.

Even Bai Qingquan, who was watching, was shocked.

No one thought that Shen Jintai’s acting skills were bad or ridiculous. Everyone knew that he got too caught up in the act as he entered the scene.

Guo Rui walked over and said, “Calm down. We’ll shoot it again.”

Shen Jintai felt a little embarrassed. He wiped his eyes, smiled, and said, “I just thought of this line… Ah. He couldn’t remember anything. Only one thought came to his mind, A’Ying.”

Li Xu’s life truly was pitiful and hateful.

It took Shen Jintai a long time to calm down. Bai Qingquan looked at him blankly from the side. From his view, Shen Jintai seemed depressed and somber. As an actor, he wasn’t sure if the empathetic emotions Shen Jintai was feeling were either through diligence or negligence. Nevertheless, Bai Qingquan was moved.

Although Shen Jintai’s character was poor, he really had to admire his professionalism. He was a person that separated his public from his private life. Bai Qingquan had to admit, Shen Jintai was no longer the Shen Jintai of the past.

He was now a good actor.

After Shen Jintai had calmed down, he felt a little embarrassed. He got up and went to the bathroom. As soon as he closed the bathroom door, he heard a ding dong sound.

Xiao Ai said excitedly, “Dear!”

Shen Jintai turned off the faucet. “Jesus, you scared me again.”

“I can’t help it, but I’ve come to give you good news. According to the tests, Bai Yueguang’s favorability for you has risen by eight points!”

Shen Jintai wiped his still red and swollen eyes. “My emotions can’t be interrupted. Please don’t disturb my acting.”

“…But you’re about to get the reward for a killer waist soon, and the venus dimples!”

Shen Jintai couldn’t suppress the joy in his heart, so he asked, “Why did he have such a good impression of me? Is it because of my acting these past few days?”

“Oh,” Xiao Ai whispered. “Harmonious society, harmonious language. What a day. I hate it!”

“…You disappear. Really, don’t interrupt my finally stable mood.”

---

The author has something to say:

Let Shen Touhua be a lunatic who turns the crowd all day long, right?

---

Kinky Thoughts: WTF y’all? I’m really getting into this drama right now. Poor Zhou Ying! Poor Li Xu! If only Yan Qiuchi had played the role of Zhou Ying, that would’ve been perfect. I kinda want to read a transmigration novel for <The East Palace is Coming> now…

---

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

Author: 公子于歌 / Gong Zi Yu Ge

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

---

Chapter 29: He Really Changed

Shen Jintai was overly excited. He had filmed a lot of bed scenes in the past, but this was the first time he had filmed one with a man. Yesterday, the director also specifically asked him about his acceptance limits. From the perspective of dedication to art, he replied, “As long as the plot requires it, I can do it.”

Though the subject matter scale was large, it didn’t mean that the camera lens scale could be large. This world’s attitude towards gay men and women had not reached the point where same-sex marriage was legal yet. The silver lining was that at least there were relatively few restrictions on the subject matter in the creation of film and television dramas.

“Is there a kissing scene?” Xiao Tang asked curiously.

“The script is written more implicitly,” Shen Jintai said, flipping through the script while eating his lunch. “It depends on the director’s request.”

“In fact, we can talk about this with the director in advance,” Li Meilan said. “Isn’t it too passive to acquiesce to the director’s request on the spot?”

Shen Jintai read the script as he wrote on it. “Li Xu has nowhere to retreat. The prince turned him around and tore off his robe from behind.” Based on his many years of filming experience, this was an artistic treatment. It was full of tension and emotions, but not explicit.

To film the scene well, Shen Jintai had returned to his room and taken a shower after eating. When he arrived on set, he saw Zheng Siqi waiting for him. He nodded, and Zheng Siqi returned his nod with a smile. Despite being very kind to Zheng Siqi, Zheng Siqi still seemed a little afraid of him.

In today’s scene, the crowned prince was more domineering. Li Xu, the black lotus, had to pretend to be a small white lotus.

“Should we practice the scene first?” Shen Jintai asked.

Zheng Siqi was also planning this.

“Then let’s go to the dressing room and talk,” Shen Jintai said.

Zheng Siqi nodded. “Okay.” He followed Shen Jintai into the dressing room. There were a lot of lights on the set, and it was a bit hot. Shen Jintai only wore a loose shirt and shorts. His arms were long and white, and his back faintly exposed his shoulder blade. He always unconsciously regarded Shen Jintai as the biggest star of his generation. Looking at his thin figure and small back, he remembered now that Shen Jintai was only 20 years old.

Zheng Siqi breathed a sigh of relief, and then saw Shen Jintai’s butt.

……

Wow.

Zheng Siqi’s face became hot as he quickly averted his eyes.

—

Yan Qiuchi attached great importance to the drama <The East Palace is Coming>.

Sunshine Media started as an artist and entertainment marketing agency. Later, it began to get involved in film and television production, gradually developing into the comprehensive behemoth of the entertainment industry it was now. In recent years, it had been involved in the direct production of many films and television dramas. These productions had always resulted in TV shows with high ratings and several movies that were dark horses at the box office. The investments in these projects were miniscule, though, compared to how much Sunshine Media had put into <The East Palace is Coming>, which was a few hundred million.

Costume dramas could easily get popular. Palace fighting dramas* came with their own rating groups. The TV stations were all optimistic about this drama since the production team was top-notch. Everyone had high hopes for it. Sunshine Media failed to IPO previously and was relying on this drama so they could IPO again. Since it was a weekly drama, the most critical point was the first month of filming. The fate of the drama would depend on how well the filming goes. For this month, Yan Qiuchi had to personally keep an eye on everything.

*Drama featuring an ancient Chinese dynasty as the background. The focus is on the characters’ emotional entanglements and political strife for the story line. They are geared towards entertainment and drama rather than historical.

Yan Qiuchi quickly ate his meal and went straight to meet with Director Guo and the others. After meeting Director Guo, he came to the dressing rooms to meet with the principal actors one by one. Finally, he reached Shen Jintai’s room. As he entered, he saw Zheng Siqi holding Shen Jintai’s shirt. The two of them were pushing and shoving as if they were auditioning for a play.

“Your hand can go down a little bit more.” Shen Jintai grabbed Zheng Siqi’s hand and moved it directly down.

Zheng Siqi was clinging to Shen Jintai. He was young and it was his first time filming. He didn’t want to move his hands. His thin lips were pursed, his forehead was sweating, and he looked very serious. If he moved his hands any lower, it would touch Shen Jintai’s ass.

He didn’t expect his first project would have a gay sex scene. He felt that the body of a man was tough and long, which was inconsistent with the softness of a woman. Even if the man had a slender waist, the feeling still wasn’t good.

This was simply a rehearsal. The lines were fixed but the body movements needed to be rehearsed in advance. Zheng Siqi clasped Shen Jintai’s arm and gestured to pull his shirt over his shoulder. As soon as the shirt was pulled up, it revealed Shen Jintai’s bare sides.

Seeing Yan Qiuchi at the door, Shen Jintai wanted to pull his shirt back down, but his hands were held together by Zheng Siqi. In Zheng Siqi’s eyes, his resistance seemed to be cooperating with their rehearsal. It wasn’t until Zheng Siqi caught sight of Yan Qiuchi that he quickly let go of Shen Jintai’s hands and bowed to greet him. “President Yan.”

Yan Qiuchi was an important figure in the entertainment industry.

Yan Qiuchi nodded and said, “You guys are rehearsing?”

Zheng Siqi responded with a “Nn.”

Yan Qiuchi said, “You can continue.”

After Yan Qiuchi had left, Zheng Siqi breathed a sigh of relief. Yan Qiuchi was a very imposing person. He rarely saw him smile. He exuded the aura of a cold, domineering president. His boss, Ji Fengxing, didn’t like Yan Qiuchi much. He would call him Little Yama¹ in private. It was said he was just as ruthless as his father, Lord Yama², but his methods were not as deep.  

¹(小阎王) Son of Yama lord of the fifth hall of the underwood. English equivalent would be like the son of the devil or son of hades.
²(阎罗王) Lord of the fifth hall of the underworld. The decrees judgements over the dead. English equivalent would be like the devil or hades. However, note that Yama is not the sole ruler of hell in Chinese culture. There are 10 kings in Chinese Hell.

On the outside, he looked like an outstanding young man and a perfect gentleman, wearing a civilized skin, but in fact, on the inside he was born as a wolf cub ready to attack. Due to all the rumors, Zheng Siqi had a preconceived view of Yan Qiuchi, causing him to be very fearful of him. It wasn’t easy for him, a newcomer, to land this role, considering the competitive relationship between Sunshine Media and Monsoon Entertainment. Ji Fengxing told him to keep a low profile.

Unexpectedly, what surprised him most was that just now Shen Jintai and Yan Qiuchi seemed to treat each other as if they were air. He knew about the scandal between the two of them when he was an amateur. Shen Jintai had chased Yan Qiuchi wildly. At the peak of his career, Shen Jintai retired for love, but Yan Qiuchi, who was troubled by the whole affair, politely said to a reporter, “I don’t date people within the entertainment circle.”

“Let’s continue,” Shen Jintai said.

Zheng Siqi nodded and looked at Shen Jintai’s untidied clothes that were revealing a section of his waist.

—

Guo Rui also attached great importance to this bed scene. To allow Shen Jintai and Zheng Siqi to act better, he cleared the set. Except for the necessary staff members needed for filming, everyone else wasn’t allowed inside.

Many actors and crew members wanted to come and watch. Intimate scenes between two men were rarely seen on screen. They wanted to see something new and wondered what kind of scene Guo Rui would direct and Shen Jintai would make.

When filming was about to officially start, Guo Rui watched their rehearsal again and made some adjustments.

Yan Qiuchi sat behind the monitor in the distance. Behind him were Gao Qiao and the other crew members.

Shen Jintai was a little uncomfortable at first, but after his mind entered into a working state, he forgot about Yan Qiuchi.

As one of the important blackening factors of the villain eunuch, this scene had to show a love that was poignant and moving. Outside the window, the scenery was full of roses. The halls were blown by fans that caused the curtains to flap back and forth. The palace lanterns’ light was faint. Except for natural light from candles, there was nothing else.

Li Xu’s costume was not the same one he wore for the makeup test shoot. The current costume looked more refined. The corners of the robes were embroidered with large clusters of rose patterns. He walked through the halls with a lamp in his hand. He entered the inner chambers, but there was no sign of the crown prince. As he put the lamp down, a person suddenly jumped out from behind him and hugged him. It was Zhou Ying.

Despite only wearing a loose inner shirt, Zhou Ying still maintained his noble and cold temperament. The dim candlelight dulled his aura a little. Li Xu was surprised. He stretched out his hands and held Zhou Ying’s hands. The hall was silent. There was only the subtle sound of two people struggling. The wooden floor made a “creak” followed by a rustling sound of entangling feet. Li Xu’s green robe was pulled away. He wasn’t wearing an inner shirt. A white back and slender shoulders were revealed as the robe fell below the waist, exposing Li Xu.

This shot was done in slow motion to highlight the robe drifting off into the night. It wasn’t easy to capture that beautiful feeling, so the scene had to be shot several times.

Li Xu broke free from the shackles of the crown prince. He knelt down to the ground as if he was greatly frightened. The crown prince eagerly stepped forward, causing Li Xu to suddenly fall backwards. The hairpin on his head untied, causing his jet-black hair to fall loose. He panted as he looked up at his royal highness, the crown prince.

“Give Li Xu a close-up,” Guo Rui said as he stared at the monitor.

Everyone around didn’t dare to breathe. The camera zoomed in closer to Li Xu’s moist eyes. It moved back and forth several times to capture the scene. Li Xu’s forehead was damped as it reflected the light of the candles. When the staff moved the light board, Li Xu’s face became more emotional. Though his facial features weren’t beautiful, the eyebrows were tightly knit as if they were surging with desire. Looking through the monitor, the scene was even more vivid and intriguing.

This Shen Jintai was completely unfamiliar to Yan Qiuchi. He was no longer Shen Jintai, but Li Xu. There was no trace of Shen Jintai in his body.

“Afraid of me?” Zhou Ying asked.

Li Xu grabbed the robe off the ground and said, “This slave is not afraid. This one is only afraid they will defile your royal highness.”

“Since you are afraid of contaminating this crown prince*, why are you wearing nothing underneath?”

*[Taizi] (太子) Title of the crown prince. He’s calling himself by his title.

Li Xu looked at the prince and said, “Because this slave not only has the most shameless body, but also the most shameless heart. He wants to stain his Royal Highness.”

Li Xu’s chest was heaving. His expression was cowardly, but his hand moved away from the covering robe and showed the prince the body of the eunuch that he had always been ashamed of.

Yan Qiuchi stared at the monitor, feeling his heart beating wildly.

“Cut!”

The lights suddenly became chaotic, and Zheng Siqi quickly pulled Shen Jintai up.

Since Shen Jintai was playing a scheming little eunuch in the scene, he had no clothes on. The cameras didn’t focus on private parts, so he was still wearing his underwear. To him, it was simply work, so he didn’t feel embarrassed at all. The staff picked up his robe and handed it to him. Shen Jintai grabbed it and smiled at Zhang Siqi. “You tore off all the buttons.”

Guo Rui noticed Shen Jintai’s butt and was astounded. He suddenly got an inspiration. Every director had an unrestricted heart when it came to art. TV dramas weren’t as good as movies in a sense that they couldn’t be filmed if the scale was too large. However, he had his ways.

After the next shot, he changed the scene to the two of them embracing while they slept.

Shen Jintai’s role was Li Xu, who was supposed to be a beautiful young eunuch. In terms of beauty, however, Shen Jintai was a bit lacking. To offset this, Guo Rui decided to focus more on his physique. Shen Jintai was in good shape and his figure looked good. He didn’t want the focus to show off his masculinity but rather to make the story seem more reasonable.

He wanted to tap into the most attractive point of Shen Jintai’s body, so that the audience could feel that it was understandable for the crown prince to fall for such a person and love him all his life.

In the footage afterwards, he asked Shen Jintai to wear the prince’s robe. The clothes that his lover had just taken off were wrapped around his body as it was sprayed with water mist. It created a look of love that was visible from the shoulders to the body, to the feet.

Guo Rui personally helped to make this look. Shen Jintai felt embarrassed at first, but after thinking about it, wasn’t his beauty part of his career?

For the sake of his career, being naked was not a problem!

He let go, thinking like this.

In the dim candlelight, he was wrapped in a silk robe. His long hair was scattered, and the camera swayed from behind him to the side. With wide shoulders and slender hips, the scene showed an indescribable sensuality.

Yan Qiuchi remained motionless, sitting behind the monitor. He gently rubbed his lips with his fingers, as if he had a premonition that Shen Jintai’s reborn appearance might be able to shine on screen when it was broadcast in the future.

He was convinced that Shen Jintai had really changed. The Shen Jintai he had known no longer existed. He had changed from an idol with a mixed reputation to a real actor.

Prince Zhou Ying’s character design was simple, making it easy to play. Zheng Siqi’s inexperience fitted well into this particular scene. While it looks like the prince was the stronger character, in fact, it was really the eunuch, Li Xu, who was in full control of the situation.

After the shooting, it was already late at night. Shen Jintai wrapped a robe around himself and came to the monitor to watch the replay. He was very satisfied with the scene.

Everyone was very excited. Guo Rui said with a smile, “You guys have worked hard. Go back and have a good rest.”

Shen Jintai didn’t have any scenes tomorrow. He gave Guo Rui a bow and said to the staff on set, “Everyone has worked hard. I invite you all to have supper if you want to come.”

There were many young members among the crew on set, and they all cheered in unison at the invitation. Guo Rui turned to Yan Qiuchi and said, “President Yan has worked hard today.”

Yan Qiuchi saw Shen Jintai smile and glance at him when he heard the words. He didn’t know if it was because of the lighting, but his eyes were particularly bright.

He was about to answer Guo Rui when he saw Shen Jintai turn his eyes and invite the crew to supper. The scene became chaotic as all the lights were turned back on. It was a bit dazzling. Zheng Siqi was among those who were thrilled. He was talking eagerly with Shen Jintai as they exited the set. Shen Jintai was still wrapped in a loose robe that was rolled up, exposing his thin white calves.

“Not bad, right?” Guo Rui asked proudly.

Yan Qiuchi retracted his eyes and said lightly, “He has changed a lot.”

Tremendously! Gao Qiao thought. It’s almost like a different person! Besides his acting skills, which have improved leaps and bounds, his attitude towards President Yan has changed as well. When he looked at President Yan, his eyes were sober and had no feeling of clinginess at all.

Standing behind the monitor with Yan Qiuchi just now, for a moment, Gao Qiao even felt that Shen Jintai had a different temperament. Determined and calm.

It was already late at this time, and Yan Qiuchi planned to head back. When he was about to get into the car, he saw Shen Jintai again, who was discussing with Zheng Siqi and the others about where to go eat. When his car drove past them, he deliberately stared at Shen Jintai, trying to catch any subtle movements from him, such as pretending not to care but secretly looking at his car.

There was nothing.

Shen Jintai didn’t seem to even know that it was his car. He was wearing a white shirt, baggy pants, and was in sandals, holding a cigarette in his hand.

—

Perhaps it was because Guo Rui was pleased with the shooting, because the next day, the official blog posted a new poster. It was a picture of Shen Jintai’s back, wrapped in a robe, half hidden in the dark night. It was tempting and seductive.

“Holy crap! What is this?!”

“This ass, I want*!”

*I can (我可以) Slang to refer to someone or something that you like very much with intense affection. Like “I can sleep with him” or “I am willing to date him“.

“It looks like a man. Can anyone tell who it is?”

“There’s a small imprint in the upper left corner. It’s Shen Jintai!”

“Fuck! It turns out to be Shen Touhua?”

“Shen Touhua has such a good figure. He’s so fine.”

“<The East Palace is Coming> will be like no other drama. Even the posters are really well made. It deserves to be a masterpiece of the year.”

“What should I do? Now I’m looking forward to it. I originally decided not to watch it because I couldn’t stand seeing Shen Touhua’s acting. Is it really fragrant*?”

*Reminder: (真香) Slang that means vowing not to do something but did it in the end. || In this context she’s saying I made up my mind not to watch it but I might be changing it now (because it’s so fragrant).

“It’s really fragrant. I talked about it in the building next door yesterday. The biggest highlight of this drama must be Shen Touhua. He must have good sense if he’s playing that role!”

“The Touhua water army is here again. What can a random poster analyze? We can pass judgement when the trailer comes out.”

“This poster can only say that this drama is worthy of being the masterpiece of the year. What good is there to boast about Shen Touhua. There’s a kind of beauty in this world called MeituPic*. I hope you know it well.”

*Image editing software that is mostly used in Mainland China that provides tools for editing photos like filters, retouching ect.

“Touhua has many enemies and he’s been all over the news these days. I really hated him at first, but I still can’t bear to see him being scolded so badly. To be honest, his image has been good since he made his comeback. It’s not a surprise that his appearance has also changed. Can’t we all just look forward to it?”

“It really feels like he was reborn recently. I don’t think it’s a matter of physique but temperament. The temperament of the whole person has changed.”

“Ahhhhh! I was really shocked by this poster today. My head now has yellow waste*. You have to listen to it!”

*(黄色废) Dirty/pornographic/vulgar ect..

“I’m willing to listen to that ass.”

At this moment, someone suddenly posted a GIF. It was a GIF at the launch conference. At the time, the cast was invited to play a small game on stage. Shen Jintai, who had his back to the stage, had bent over. His slim-fit pants were wrapped tightly around his slender legs and exposed his ankles, but that wasn’t the most eye-catching part. It was his ass.

“Fucking hell.”

“I want to watch this show!”

“Touhua deserves to have the number one ass in the entertainment industry!”

---

The author has something to say:

Tender ass man.

---

Kinky Thoughts:

Reading about Yama reminded me of the anime Hoozuki no Reitetsu, which I thought was pretty good. Is it almost time for Yan Qiuchi to start chasing his wife in the crematorium?

---

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

Author: 公子于歌 / Gong Zi Yu Ge

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

---

Chapter 28: Shen Yitiao

The wind outside was blowing the curtains and lamps in the palace. The palace attendants rushed out to close the windows and doors. Li Xu stood with his hands clasped in the hall and said, “The people close to the crown prince sent a message to ask for this slave to enter the East Palace to serve.”

Zhou Jing acknowledged with a “Nn” but remained silent. He slowly walked over and stretched out his hands to lift Li Xu’s face up.

Zhou Jing: “Li Xu, it depends on you whether I can climb up in the future.” The beautiful face of Li Xu was outstanding. Ignore mentioning the pile of eunuchs, even among concubines, he could vie for the top spot.

Zhou Jing’s hands were warm and soft. As he let him go, Li Xu anxiously grabbed his arm with both hands. Zhou Jing raised his head to look and saw Li Xu’s dazzling eyes. Zhou Jing slightly lowered his eyes, causing Li Xu to let go.

While Li Xu’s posture was fearful, his eyes remained flickering as if he was holding onto words deep in his chest, hesitant to say them out.

Zhou Jing turned around and said, “Go.”

Li Xu lowered his head without saying a word. He knelt and silently gave the prince a gift. He would always be the prince’s slave. He got up from the ground, bowed his waist, and retreated.

After Li Xu left, Zhou Jing turned his head and shouted, “Never forget whose slave you belong to!”

“Cut!” Director Guo yelled. He stood up from behind the monitor and said, “Qingquan, there’s something wrong with your mood.”

Bai Qingquan hurriedly walked over. Guo Rui pointed out, “Li Xu was a playmate by your side when you guys were young. He’s no longer just a simple slave to you. The feeling you should have when he enters the East Palace is both eagerness to rely on him to take down the crown prince and apprehensiveness for fearing he’ll betray you. Along with that, there are also feelings of shame and resentment. After all, you are his friend and you’re sending him to the Crown Prince, knowing what’s to come. So, when you say your lines, it must not be just from the viewpoint of a noble prince but must also carry the affection of a dear friend. You must combine the feelings of kindness and coercion to bring out the right emotion. Do you understand?”  

As he listened to Guo Rui’s guidance, a makeup artist was retouching his makeup. Bai Qingquan looked at the monitor and nodded solemnly.

When he touched Shen Jintai’s face during the filming, he got distracted. His heavy makeup reminded him of those times when Shen Jintai had mercilessly bullied him. There was no affection in his eyes back then. Only hatred and resentment!

He knew he could act better in later scenes between Zhou Jing and Li Xu.

Guo Rui, “Come. All departments are ready. We’ll do this scene again.”

Shen Jintai walked to the entrance of the hall again and stood there. Li Meilan took the opportunity to fan him and pat him on the shoulder. “It’s a good shot. Keep at it.” She was a little surprised by Shen Jintai’s work attitude. He was calm, diligent, and serious.

The second time, Shen Jintai performed even better. As a veteran actress, Song Wei knew that Shen Jintai had found his sense of rhythm.

An actor’s sense of rhythm was very important. It was something that couldn’t be learned and depended on talent and instinct. This sense of rhythm wasn’t only when speaking lines, but also coordinating movements to match the lines being said. It was about when and how to say their lines. How long should words be spoken for, pauses in between words and sentences that could range from a tenth of a second to tens of seconds; all this must be connected to their physical movements to form a smooth and tense performance.

From Zhou Jing saying “Go” to Li Xu kneeling and prostrating, Shen Jintai had mastered the rhythm between these scenes perfectly. If he moved too fast, the tension would disappear. If he moved too slowly, the tempo of the scene would be lost*.

*Clarity: In terms of this scene where Zhou Jing dismisses Li Xu who’s currently kneeling, the author is trying to point out the “rhythm” is Li Xu’s movement that Shen Jintai is acting out. If he moves too quickly, the built-up tension leading up to the scene will be lost. If he moves too slowly, it can drag out the scene. The point is that these things can affect how the audience feels when watching these characters in the show.

Song Wei also went to the back of the monitor to watch a close-up of Shen Jintai. The tears seemed to be there, and the dampness was just right. It was a very difficult thing to know how to act properly, especially for young actors.

Bai Qingquan’s acting skills were relatively good for the younger generation, but his performance was more based on external acting* and was not advanced enough.

*Acting from the outside; originates externally through skills like vocal and physical training, imitating actual behavior.

Director Guo was an experienced cinematographer who knew how to promote strengths and avoid weaknesses. Shen Jintai’s performance was delicate and calm, so he had more close-ups. Bai Qingquan was beautiful, but the finer details weren’t as good, so he mainly focused on the beauty aspect. During the performance, the scene looked very discordant. However, adjustments from the lens made the shot more textured and aesthetically pleasing.

Producer Zhang said to Gao Qiao, “You can rest assured that both of them can hold their scene.”

Gao Qiao said nothing. He sent the video to Yan Qiuchi. Shen Jintai had acted so well. Was this still the same Shen Jintai with his pompous acting?

Zheng Siqi was also watching from the side nervously. At night would be his bed scene with Shen Jintai. After watching Shen Jintai’s performance in the morning, he was even more shocked than the others.

After a whole day of filming, Shen Jintai earned another nickname: “Shen Yitiao*.”

*Clarity: Basically referring to how good he is that most his shot are done with 1 take.

—

As soon as he entered the nanny’s car, Bai Qingquan’s face darkened. The assistant didn’t dare to breathe. Wei Ge got in and said, “Tired?”

Bai Qingquan didn’t answer. He was in a bad mood. He thought his acting skills were good among the younger generation. Who knew that he became so weak-minded when he acted against Shen Jintai today. With every breath, line, and expression from Shen Jintai, it made him feel emptier the more he looked at them.

How could this happen?! How could this happen?!

Shen Jintai had retired from the circle for two years, yet he was easily overtaken by him today!

—

Xiao Tang was so excited that he couldn’t help but share this with the “Gold Powder Family”.

The gold powder was looking forward to seeing their brother act, and Xiao Tang had promised to talk about the shooting situation today.

Xiao Tang: [The crew didn’t allow us to take pictures, otherwise I really wanted to record a video to share with you all. I can only say that Brother Jin performed spectacularly. The director even gave him the nickname, Shen Yitiao!]

The gold powder screamed. They were deeply curious now.

Shen Jintai said that he had been studying acting for the past two years. Is it true?

But when Shen Jintai first acted in that idol drama, we worked really hard to control the critics. Even as iron fans, we felt that Shen Jintai’s acting skills were, um…

But he was their only brother! They had to boast without conscience.

But they also wanted their cooking to be a real actor. They would be able to blow him to the sky* and straighten up any fan’s waist that tears on him.

*Laud someone to the sky/praise something beyond its desserts.

After all, as an actor, everything was imaginary. Only acting skills are the real capital*.

*Clarity: It’s saying that the characters the actors play are all made up. The real deal lies in the actor’s ability to play those characters.

Of course, this kind of joy couldn’t just be shared exclusively. Recently, moonlight powders and fans of Yang Lizhi had been tearing up Shen Jintai, thinking he had grabbed too much heat from their idols. Now that they were privy to such information, gold powders could immediately go to major entertainment sectors and spread the news.

“I laughed a little bit. Touhua actually changed his nickname for his fans. He’s not Shen Touhua anymore but Shen Yitiao!”

“One what? One miss*? Hahaha!”

*Referring to his new nickname and making fun of it.

“It’s a salted fish*, right?”

*(咸鱼) Metaphor to refer to people who have no intention of doing anything.

“I believe that he had a change of heart. The press conference was indeed a beautiful comeback, but his acting skills are hard to watch. It should be true that he has never had one*!”

*Again referring to his new nickname.

“The East Palace drama is going to be big, and it won’t be because of Shen Touhua. His acting skills really don’t compliment it.”

“To be honest, this drama is really fascinating. Isn’t it quite interesting with Bai Qingquan and Shen Jintai acting together? With a large cast with different acting styles, throwing Shen Jintai into that mixture will be quite intriguing!”

“I heard that the third edition of the trailer will be released this weekend. As the second male lead, we can expect to see his face, right?”

“Oh, I don’t care about Shen Jintai, but I was excited when I thought that I could see Bai Yueguang act in costume again. I could lick* his face again!”

*To appreciate and praise someone’s good-looking appearance. Supposedly, the “lick” came from fans’ kissing the screen because their idols look so good on TV.

“Bai Qingquan’s ancient costume is really the standard for little fairies. I’m stalking Station B, waiting for him!”

“It’s a pity that I don’t like Yang Lizhi, who pairs with him. Couldn’t they find a little flower that matches him better? Yang Lizhi’s plastic surgery face can’t hold up anymore.”

“Upstairs* said that plastic surgery isn’t enough. Your mother had plastic surgery. Why don’t you see an orthodontist to fix your mouth?”

*Referring to the comment above that he’s replying to.

“Hahaha, orthodontics can change the ugly to beautiful, so everyone should go to the orthodontist!”

“So, upstairs admits that Yang Lizhi is a great beauty, right? hahaha.”

Originally, Shen Jintai’s material turned into a big tearing force of plum¹ and moonlight powders. One was a popular idol, the other a popular little flower. The fans of both sides were very chicken-blooded, creating hundreds of high-rise buildings². Yet there was no clear winner. In the end, they rose to the stage of physical threats, and the thread was deleted by the administrator, ending the conflict.

¹Yang Lizhi’s fans. Her name translates to young plum branch thus why her fans are called plums.
²Referring to comment chains.

—

The atmosphere of the crew had changed after three days of filming. Bai Qingquan was suppressed in all directions, which was something the entire cast noticed. Because Bai Qingquan took longer with his shots and had more NG* scenes, his mentality collapsed. His complexion deteriorated to the point where he couldn’t even hold a smile.

*No good/not good.

In the end, Director Guo asked him to rest and left the scene for filming tomorrow.

The problem was Shen Jintai, not because he NG so many times. Bai Qingquan’s assistant was particularly cautious today. He took out the lunch box from the bag, set it carefully, and then said to Bai Qingquan, “Brother Quan, you should eat.”

Bai Qingquan was staring intently at his phone. It was playing the TV series of a mindless idol drama. It was the drama that Shen Jintai first starred in. The Shen Jintai in it looked like he was in a daze. He blinked greasily, and his face seemed to be twitching. He had thick, oily bangs that looked outdated now.

Bai Qingquan felt better after watching it. For the past two years, he had been using this drama for his own amusement.

“Your mental state is not good,” Wei Ge said while eating. “You were fine during the first half, but you couldn’t hold on in the second half.”

“I’m in a better mood now, so don’t talk about it.” Bai Qingquan was disappointed.

“It was a bit unexpected to see Shen Jintai’s acting skills suddenly be this good, but he won’t be able to grab your limelight. Your scenes and roles are still there. Unless you collapse yourself first, don’t let him in the limelight,” Wei Ge said as he grabbed another chicken drumstick. “Stay in good shape.”

“How could I let him?” Bai Qingquan wiped his mouth.

“Then cheer up. This drama is all about the acting. In any case, he performed well, which is a good thing for the drama as a whole. He won’t drag it down. The drama is well configured, and the script is solidly written. Heat is certain. Don’t keep thinking about your past grudges with him. Just treat him as an ordinary male number two. You are the prince, the future crowned prince, and the future Emperor. He’s just an eunuch. If you lose to him in terms of momentum, showing the prince is not as good as a slave, then it’ll really be the end.”

“All eunuch in history have been small and shrunken. Why don’t they let him act truthfully and make him look like an actual eunuch.”

“This drama isn’t following the route of a historical drama,” Wei Ge said. “How can anyone fall in love with a constricted eunuch. In order for this to work, he needs to be beautiful. Let’s stop talking about him. You should go to bed early tonight and adjust your state.”

“I’ll go to the set to watch his and Zhou Ying’s scene.” Bai Qingquan had unconsciously gotten used to his role and started using the names of the characters in the play. “I’m not going to see him. I want to see the little fresh meat.”

Wei Ge said, “Keep your eyes closed and don’t be exposed. Like Shen Jintai, you also like men.”

Bai Qingquan paused and said, “My fans have a CP with me and President Yan. The public’s reaction to it has been okay…” They even called him the Yan family’s son-in-law.

“That’s just joking around and selling rot*. Real rot is not the same. Believe it or not, if you come out and say you like men on your front foot, you’ll be kicking all your fans with your back foot.” Wei Ge saw that he was frustrated and said, “You’re only 22. What are you panicking about? Fight for two more years. When you’re firmly established, you can talk about it as you like.”

*To highlight the ambiguous relationship between two men to hype and cater to the audience.

Bai Qingquan thought to himself, ‘22 is the age when demand is strong.’

Have pity for him. He had to face many handsome men every day but had to pretend to be innocent and happy. Wuwuwu.

He blamed it all on Shen Jintai. With this current rivalry, he needed to be the opposite of everything Shen Jintai was. Since Shen Jintai liked men, he naturally would not.

He was the little fairy of the Kaolin Flower*.

*(高岭之花) Metaphor used for something that can only be seen from a distance and cannot be touched, something that can only be longed for but out of reach.

—

Gao Qiao went to the airport to pick up Yan Qiuchi. On his flight, Yan Qiuchi had the chance to watch the video Gao Qiao sent him.

“I didn’t expect Shen Jintai to act well,” Gao Qiao reported to his boss. “The director also gave him a nickname, Shen Yitiao.”

Perceiving Yan Qiuchi looking up, he explained, “All his shots have passed.”

Yan Qiuchi couldn’t tell anything from the video Gao Qiao sent. The scene was too noisy with the fans blowing nonstop and the surrounding equipment making noise. It was also too dark to see clearly. The scene showed Shen Jintai standing under the headlights with Bai Qingquan. The sound wasn’t very clear, but the scene looked decent.

“What’s being shot tonight?” Yan Qiuchi asked.

“The evening is the highlight,” Gao Qiao said with excitement. “Shen Jintai’s and Zheng Siqi’s bed scene!”

Yan Qiuchi was silent. The bright light of the phone screen shone reflected on his face making his facial features looked even more profound.

He had a dream last night. He dreamt of Shen Jintai.

In the dream, he held Shen Jintai, who was sweaty, and touched places he shouldn’t have touched with his hands. The embrace gave him a weird satisfaction. He had never had the satisfaction of holding something before. The dream was imaginary but felt real. It was like an itch that could not be scratched and a heart that could not be placed.

Was it a good idea to go watch the film tonight?

Yan Qiuchi was a rational person. He had analyzed the dream he had last night very rationally. He felt that he usually restrained himself too much. He has a very serious skin hunger and thirst problem.

Skin hunger was strictly considered a psychological problem. As its name implied, it was an extreme yearning for skin contact, especially for hugs. There were two extreme manifestations of people with this kind of problem. One kind was that they were especially fond of contact with other people’s bodies, and the other kind was that they were extremely restrained and self-disciplined. Yan Qiuchi fell into the latter category.

Because he was afraid and ashamed of his problem being discovered by others, so he became even more restrained and resisted contact with other people.

He shouldn’t have carried Shen Jintai that night. Just from the embrace with the drunk Shen Jintai laying softly in his arms had aroused his desire that he had suppressed for many years.

It had nothing to do with affection or love, but simply physiological needs.

He unbuttoned his neckline and glanced at the bite mark on his neck, which had almost faded. It was like a tattoo on Shen Jintai’s body.

“President Yan, are you going home or…”

“Go to the set,” Yan Qiuchi said.

The light from the streetlamp shone in through the car window. Yan Qiuchi was sitting in the dark with only a light shining on his neck and chest. His sexy Adam’s apple bobbed up and down a few times. His chin was submerged in darkness, making his expression unclear.

---

The author has something to say:

That never-sagging ass and those red lips are going to come in handy! Director Guo, pay attention to it!

---

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

Author: 公子于歌 / Gong Zi Yu Ge

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

---

Chapter 27: Double Performance

The filming of the scene with Shen Jintai took an entire day. Once work finished at night, everyone was exhausted. There was no night filming as everyone had just started and hadn’t yet adjusted.

Although Bai Qingquan was very tired, he still went out to greet his fans.

“Brother, we have been waiting for you all day.”

Many of them hadn’t eaten any food or drunk any water for fear they would have missed their brother coming out.

Bai Qingquan smiled and said, “Everyone has worked hard.”

“Brother, filming has been very hard!”

“This is a gift we brought you!”

“Brother, can you sign for me?”

The group of little girls were chirping and cheering with glee. Shen Jintai was in his car as it drove by. He looked through the window, seeing Bai Qingquan in the middle of the night, being gentle and patient with his fans as he was taking pictures with them.

That’s great.

“Tell us where you live. We’ll take you back,” Mrs. Yan said.

Yan Yaoxuan asked, “Do you want to eat?”

“I mean, we’ll take you back after dinner,” Mrs. Yan said. “I’ve made an appointment with Director Guo and the others. The private room has already been booked, so I cannot decline.”

Shen Jintai knew that she was paving the way for him. He had been in the entertainment industry alone for a long time. This was the first time he had felt happiness due to the protection of others. He was very moved.

Shen Jintai: “Thank you, auntie.”

Mrs. Yan looked at him with a smile and said, “When you were filming for the first time, I was abroad, and I couldn’t come back to see you. Today is the first time I’ve visited the set and seen you act. You did a great job.”

“I haven’t said a line. How could you tell if it’s good or not?” Shen Jintai smiled wryly.

Mrs. Yan: “When you were filming, it was like you were an entirely different person. I almost couldn’t recognize you.”

“The cinematographer in the crew is very talented. I heard he’s won awards in the past. His shots were gorgeous. Director Guo also seems to be a cinematographer,” Yan Yaoxuan said as he turned around.

Shen Jintai: “How do you know?”

“I’ve looked into it.” Yan Yaoxuan’s tone was slightly excited. His eyes were mixed with admiration, and when he looked at Shen Jintai, he would warily dodge them. He thought that Shen Jintai was dazzling when he was himself onstage, but he didn’t expect he would be even more charming when he played other roles in films and television dramas.

Mrs. Yan invited the entire crew to dinner but only asked the directors, screenwriters, producers, and cinematographers to sit in their private rooms. Yang Lizhi and Bai Qingquan, despite being the leads of the series, were arranged to go with the other actors of the crew.

Yang Lizhi politely declined, saying that she was too tired and wanted to rest.

“Do you want to rest?” Wei Ge asked Bai Qingquan.

Bai Qingquan pulled on his fingernails, “Was I arranged to sit at the main table?”

Wei Ge said, “No.”

Bai Qingquan: “Do you think Mrs. Yan dislikes me? Although she was smiling the whole time, I always felt the way she looked at me wasn’t right.”

“You’re her son’s cash cow. How could she not like you?” Wei Ge said. “Look in the mirror for yourself. You have a good appearance and personality, who would dislike you?”

Bai Qingquan: “Shen Jintai. He hates me to the core. Seeing as how he has such a good relationship with Mrs. Yan, who knows how many bad things he said about me behind my back to her.”

As soon as Bai Qingquan finished his sentence, there was a knock on the door. It was Shen Jintai. He was wearing a loose T-shirt and had on a baseball cap. He came in with a smile and said, “Qingquan, why haven’t you gone to dinner yet? Let’s go.”

Bai Qingquan said with a smile, “I’m a little tired, so I’ll have to pass.”

“No matter how tired you are, you still have to eat,” Shen Jintai joyfully said. “Let’s go. Let’s go. By the way, we should talk about tomorrow’s rivalry scene.”

Does this mean Shen Jintai’s letting him sit at the main table?

Bai Qingquan stood up. “Okay¹ then.”

His way of saying “okay¹” sounded a bit childish, but it was still cute.

¹The word he’s saying is [ba] (吧). There’s no direct translation and it’s a matter of context. Given the context of the previous two sentences, I tried my best to match the equivalent English way of how Bai Qingquan responded to Shen Jintai.

Despite removing his makeup, Bai Qingquan’s plain face was still soft and glowing, similar to a child’s. When the two entered the elevator with Wei Ge, he asked Shen Jintai, “What brand of lipstick do you use? The color on your lips is stunning.” It was a mix between a tomato and maple leaf color. The degree of freshness was just right. It was too bright and clean for it to be a natural color, especially for a man’s lips.

Bai Qingquan: “Did you apply it when we were filming today?”

Shen Jintai: “I didn’t put anything on.”

Bai Qingquan turned his head and stared at Shen Jintai. When he leaned closer, Shen Jintai smiled and wiped his lips with his hand. He was finally able to experience the joy of becoming beautiful for the first time.

“Look,” Shen Jintai said softly as he stretched out his hand to show Bai Qingquan.

Bai Qingquan was floored. “This is your original lip color.”

Shen Jintai had always liked to put on heavy makeup before. He thought that he may have gotten confused with his memory. He recalled that during the talent show back then, Shen Jintai’s lips, with no makeup on, were very dark.

“My complexion has been improving recently,” Shen Jintai said.

Bai Qingquan pursed his lower lip. “I’ve been so busy recently that I didn’t have time to care for my lips. They’ve been very dry. I thought you had a good lip balm or lip oil that you could share with me.”

Shen Jintai smiled softly. Wei Ge, standing nearby, looked dazed. This scene didn’t look like two rivals but more like two good friends exchanging beauty tips. The atmosphere was strangely harmonious. He suddenly felt that these two could become true good friends and that there wasn’t anything wrong with them. As soon as he finished this thought, he saw Bai Qingquan turn his head to look at him and rolled his eyes secretly.

Well, that was wishful thinking.

—

The dinner was very enjoyable, though Mrs. Yan and Yan Yaoxuan were despondent.

Seeing the interaction between Shen Jintai and Bai Qingquan in person made Mrs. Yan distressed. Shen Jintai seemed to really like Bai Qingquan. She remembered Shen Jintai telling her at her birthday party that he no longer liked Yan Qiuchi but had moved on to Bai Qingquan. She thought it was just a diversion, but she didn’t expect Shen Jintai to legitimately like him.

Seeing Shen Jintai sitting next to Bai Qingquan being mild, calm, and placid, she couldn’t help but think he looked like a real gentleman. Is this still the hot-tempered Shen Jintai of the past?!

Yan Yaoxuan was even more outraged. His heart was so tired. Before the tiger left, another wolf had come. He had been working out for the past two years to buff himself up so that he could become manlier than his brother. Yet he never thought that Bai Qingquan, a beautiful 0-type man, could one day become the object of his jealousy.

Mrs. Yan: “This Bai Qingquan seems to have a good temperament.”

“He’s like a little fairy,” Shen Jintai said. “So pure and angelic.”

“There’s nothing clean about the entertainment industry. Who could still be pure and still be in Vanity Fair*,” Yan Yaoxuan said.

*I’m not sure what the implication here is. Vanity Fair is a legit fashion magazine. Unless he’s implying that Bai Qingquan did impure things (hidden rules) to get into Vanity Fair, or the author is associating Vanity Fair with something like a vulgar magazine.

Mrs. Yan glared at him.

Yan Yaoxuan hurriedly said to Shen Jintai, “I’m not talking about you, I…”

Her son was truly immature and naïve since he was a child. It was surprising that he and his brother were born of the same parents.

Shen Jintai said with a smile, “I know.”

They reached the hotel and went to Shen Jintai’s room. He opened the door and invited them in. “Come in.”

When Mrs. Yan and Yan Yaoxuan entered the hotel room, Mrs. Yan looked around and said, “It’s not bad. It’s better than I thought.”

“Mom, don’t pretend,” Yan Yaoxuan said to Shen Jintai. “This was a death order given by my mother to big brother. She wanted him to give you the best room.”

“So that’s why,” Shen Jintai said. “I was wondering how the crew could arrange such a good room for me. I thought everyone’s room was like this.”

Mrs. Yan smiled and said, “What’s so good about this? Although it’s five stars, it’s far from the ones in the cities. The general conditions of hotels here just aren’t that good. You have to live here for a while. How could I let my family be wronged by a drama produced by our own investment?”

It took more than two hours by car to return to the main city. It was getting late as the mother-son duo headed back home. Mrs. Yan was rarely so tired. After such a long day, she quickly washed up and went straight to bed. Yan Yaoxuan went up to the third floor. When he passed Shen Jintai’s room, he paused and hesitated at the door. After a few moments, he opened the door and went in.

The room was properly maintained by the servants, so it was neat and tidy but empty, as if no one had lived in it. He sat by the bed for a while, then walked to the closet and opened it. The wardrobe was empty; all the clothes were gone. He knew what he wanted to see when he opened the closet; his older brother’s coat with Shen Jintai’s thong*.

*Clarity: As I’ve explained in one of my comments, the author made modifications to this novel. An MTL version that was done on an older version had a scene where Yan Yaoxuan caught sight of the coat and thong while peeking in on Shen Jintai. This scene was cut out from the most updated version, which I’m currently translating. I’m not sure why the author removed that scene because now we have a plot hole here where it was never explained how Yan Yaoxuan knows about the coat and thong. More information can be found in my Kinky thoughts.

A thought came into Yan Yaoxuan’s mind. He imagined a contrary Shen Jintai, who was gleaming in front of the camera with jade-like brilliance, but under the solemn green robe, he was possibly wearing a sexy thong. Thinking of him in an ancient costume while having a thong on and almost gave Yan Yaoxuan a nosebleed.

Fortunately, his brother didn’t take notice of Shen Jintai. He still had a chance!

—

Shen Jintai took a bath and felt relaxed when he came out. It was hot outside, so he came out only with a bath towel wrapped around his waist as he drank some water. He thought about the scene he was going to shoot tomorrow. It would be regarded as his first major scene.

Shen Jintai felt that the biggest reason why <The East Palace is Coming> became popular was because it did not take the ordinary stereotypical route like other palace dramas. In an ordinary palace drama, the first confrontation is usually with a cannon fodder, like a favored concubine. <The East Palace is Coming> took a different direction and instead had the beginning conflict focus directly on two princes fighting for power. The younger prince had sent his confidant, the little eunuch, to seduce his older brother.

The pacing was also fast. In just the first episode alone, the heroine had already entered the palace, allowing the male and female leads to already meet, while also establishing the tumultuous feelings of the little eunuch and the crowned prince who witnessed this meeting. By the end of the episode, a few cannon fodder concubines had already died.

By the second episode, the heroine and the protagonist, as well as the eunuch and the crowned prince, had already rolled into the bed sheets. It’s important to highlight how rapidly the plot had developed by this point and how heavy the tone became. The future crown princess and the second prince had already had a coupling while on the side, the little eunuch became the crowned prince’s personal eunuch.

Gah!

There were dozens of chapters written in the original novel that were all crammed into the second episode.

As an actor, he felt that his greatest luck was that the censorship standards for film and television dramas in this world were particularly lax. The script had written the hookup scene between Li Xu and Zhou Ying in great detail. He wasn’t referring to the pa pa pa¹, but rather the process of the eunuch seducing the prince. It made the plot very fulfilling and created high tension².

¹Sex.
²Clarity: He’s saying that thanks to leisure censorship laws in this world, this drama can show more mature things, which allows the show to be better developed. It’s not necessarily the sex scenes, but more so the scenes leading up to them where he’s seducing the prince, that add tension and drama that can make the audience feel more fulfilled when watching.

After the sex was over, Empress Xiao immediately showed up and flogged him.

In the first few episodes, while the male and female protagonists were still growing up, most of the drama and conflict revolved around his character. He must act well and take the lead.

A ding dong interrupted his thoughts as Xiao Ai came alone. “Warning! Warning!”

Shen Jintai frowned. “What’s wrong?”

Xiao Ai: “The system has detected that your thoughts just now are very dangerous! You have to know that if you perform too well and cover up Bai Yueguang’s limelight, his favorability for you will substantially decrease.”

“There’s a saying called putting it to death and live after*. Have you heard of it?” Shen Jintai analyzed. “He and I were rivals before we met. If I perform better and the drama develops well, he will look at me more. I want to be the person that he thinks of. If I want to pursue him, I first want to become a charming man. In terms of beauty, I’m definitely not comparable to him. But like me, he is also a person who pursues art and aspires to be a good actor. If I become a good actor, I’m sure his outlook on me will change!”

*(叫置之死地而后生) Originally refers to the army arranged in battle cannot retreat, only killed, and the soldiers will forge ahead. It means, once you make up your mind, you have to fight for your life and eventually you can achieve success.

Xiao Ai: “…What you say seems to make sense.”

Shen Jintai: “I’ll definitely become the man this little 0 beauty admires most!”

Xiao Ai: “…You can do it*…”

*[jiayou] (加油) There’s no direct translation for this term. It’s an ubiquitous Chinese expression of encouragement and support.

Shen Jintai was very diligent in his upkeep. He applied an ex-boyfriend face mask* before heading to bed.

*SK-II brand of face masks. Apparently, it’s very expensive. It’s like $95 USD for 6 masks.

—

Shen Jintai was fully prepared for his scene today, and Bai Qingquan was even more prepared. This was the first rivalry scene between him and Shen Jintai. He was determined not to lose.

As popular artists, Bai Qingquan and Yang Lizhi had their own dressing room. Bai Qingquan looked so stunning today that he could kill everyone online. He’s been wearing his makeup all day long. When shooting was about to start, Guo Rui looked at him and said, “Your makeup is too heavy. We can’t shoot this scene with you looking like this. You have such a good foundation. You don’t need such thick makeup.”

Bai Qingquan smiled wryly and said, “Yes. I’ll go back and change it.”

As he turned to leave, he heard Guo Rui say to Shen Jintai, “Your makeup is too light. Go back and fix it.”

Bai Qingquan turned back and saw Shen Jintai reply, “My makeup was the same as yesterday.”

“Yesterday, we shot that scene at night, so we used candles and natural light. It makes the ambiance more gorgeous. When shooting during the day, your makeup needs to be thicker.” Guo Rui was an expert cinematographer, so he knew these things well. “Bai Qingquan wants to fade in. The more plain he is, the better he looks. You, on the other hand, need to be the opposite. You need to eat makeup and cake on as much as possible.”

Shen Jintai and Bai Qingquan both went back to fix their makeup. It took a long time to remove Bai Qingquan’s makeup. The staff outside had to rush him.

Today was going to be an unfavorable battle*. As soon as Bai Qingquan saw Shen Jintai in his heavy makeup, he felt nervous. When he saw Shen Jintai yesterday, who appeared on camera, it was like seeing a different person. He looked very solemn and serious.

*(出师不利) Idiom which means that the battle isn’t smooth. It describes the defeat at the beginning of the matter. It comes from the book “Stubborn Lord” as part of a series of Wang Shuo collections.

When they met, Shen Jintai slightly nodded to him. Bai Qingquan had become accustomed to this. It was no secret that Shen Jintai was never enthusiastic about him. Now Shen Jintai was even more somber. Bai Qingquan returned his greeting with a cold face as he nodded back. He returned to reading his script in his hand, familiarizing himself with his lines. Thinking to himself, Shen Jintai used to be quite temperamental. Lately, though, he seems to be getting more and more… aggressive.

Li Meilan and Xiao Tang were also there. If they could get the crew’s permission, they wanted to take pictures of Shen Jintai during such a crucial moment. Shen Jintai was standing at the entrance of the hall. The ground was covered by his shadow cast by the lights. He turned sideways and glanced at Li Meilan, who gave him a thumbs up. Turning his gaze away, he realized that most of the actors in the crew were here, including the extras who didn’t need to appear for the time being.

It seems they all have gossip in their hearts and have gathered to see Shen Jintai’s and Bai Qingquan’s rivalry with their own eyes. Yang Lizhi was also there. She had no scene today, but she came to squat early. She was also curious about Shen Jintai’s performance. It’s one thing to perform well when it’s just reading the script aloud. It’s an entirely different thing to shoot well in real time. Whether Shen Jintai’s acting skills have improved, she wanted to bear witness.

Yang Lizhi was sitting in a small chair while wearing oversized sunglasses. An assistant brought her juice while another assistant held a small electric fan near her. Around her were several supporting actors from the crew. She looked like she was an ice queen.

Even Song Wei, who had been waiting in the lounge, came out to watch the excitement.

Producer Zhang felt that they had made a mistake in their decision. He should have made the media visit today instead of the weekend. The first performance between Shen Jintai and Bai Qingquan was extremely newsworthy.

“If you take pictures, don’t let them leak and have rumors spread.” Producer Zhang patted Assistant Qiao.

Gao Qiao was currently holding his phone while in record mode. “I’m showing it to President Yan. He wanted to look so he can be assured.”

Producer Zhang: “Isn’t he coming back tonight?”

Gao Qiao confirmed with an “Nn” and said, “President Yan wants to keep an eye on the whole process.” He felt that Yan Qiuchi was worried about Shen Jintai’s wooden acting skill and that it would drag down the whole production. Even he, himself, was deeply concerned.

Gao Qiao wasn’t involved during the script reading. His impression of Shen Jintai was that of a mediocre star only fit to play in mindless idol dramas. The second male lead had a critical role in this series. If Shen Jintai were to ruin it, it’d devastate the chances of their company going public.

“Alright. Get ready. It’s time to start shooting.” A staff member held up the scoreboard: “Three, two, one, action!”

Shen Jintai lowered his head slightly as he walked through the gorgeous palace with quick and light steps. The rocker camera that was in front of him moved with his pace.

Shen Jintai: “Your royal highness.”

Bai Qingquan was dressed in a green and white robe with flowers and bamboo leaf patterns. From the back, he looked like a man with beauty and grace. He was watering the flowers when he heard Shen Jintai call to him. He glanced back. The palace maid next to him immediately stepped forward to pick up the watering can in his hand, and another palace maid brought him a handkerchief. Bai Qingquan hurriedly took the handkerchief, wiped his hand, and said: “You’ve returned.”

Bai Qingquan was immensely nervous. He wasn’t even this nervous the first time he filmed.

Oh god.

He was acting against his rival, Shen Jintai! He would have to muster up all the acting skills he had acquired since birth!

---

The author has something to say:

Start the show.

---

Kinky Thoughts:

Oh Yan Yaoxuan… how truly naïve that you are.

As explained previously in a comment, the author had made modifications to the novel. I believe he said it was for the adaptation of the audio drama and manhua. However, because of this modification, it left a few plot holes or unexplained things such as Shen Jintai’s ultimate reward (besides getting a new life, he gets a man who will love him forever) or how Yan Yaoxuan knows about the thong.

Luckily, there’s an MTL that was done on an older version that contained these missing pieces. I will try to point out the differences as I’m translating and provide the MTL of missing scenes when a plot hole or unexplained event happens for clarity. Keep in mind there may be other plot holes that are never explained, and that’s on the author.

Note that the version I’m translating should be the most updated version in jjwxc.

The part that was cut out was in Chapter 13 at the beginning. Below is the unedited MTL version I found online:

{What was Shen Jintai doing just now? ? ?

He even took his elder brother’s coat with him, and he just picked it up and smelled like a man just now?

Why is he so mad, so obsessed with his big brother!}

---

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

Author: 公子于歌 / Gong Zi Yu Ge

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

---

Chapter 26: Jintai’s Scenes

“Who changed my clothes last night?” Shen Jintai asked.

Wasn’t it Yan Qiuchi?

“You’re having wishful thoughts again?” Li Meilan said. “I didn’t know if there was vomit on your clothes, so I asked Xiao Tang to help me.”

Xiao Tang said, “I only took off your outer wear. I didn’t touch your underwear!” He was pretty shocked when he saw Shen Jintai’s ass while he was changing his clothes.

Shen Jintai said, “I will never drink alcohol again.”

“If you want to mix in this circle, it’s impossible to not drink. Just drink a little less in the future. How much did you drink that it got to be this bad? It’s been years since I’ve seen you like this.” Li Meilan threw the clothes she was carrying at him. “Hurry up and get dressed and get ready to go. The filming starts today. You need to get acquainted with the studio’s environment.”

Most scenes in <The East Palace is Coming> were filmed in a studio. The crew had built many palace buildings that Shen Jintai hadn’t seen yet.

Because of his hangover, Shen Jintai ate very little of the breakfast that Xiao Tang brought. He quickly changed his clothes and was about to leave when there was a knock at the door. Xiao Tang opened the door to see Gao Qiao with a cold face, followed by a young man.

As soon as Shen Jintai saw the person behind him, his expression became dark.

“President Yan asked me to bring him over to apologize for last night,” Gao Qiao said.

Qian Jiashu entered the room. His face was flushed. “I really didn’t do anything. I saw that he was drunk and wanted to help him.”

“Didn’t do anything? You need me to show you the surveillance footage again?” Gao Qiao sneered.

Qian Jiashu looked at Shen Jintai. “I’m sorry, I… I really didn’t want to do anything to you.”

Shen Jintai’s complexion looked a little haggard, but his eyes were sharp. “Are you a fan of mine?”

Qian Jiashu nodded. He truly was a big fan of Shen Jintai.

“Then I’m ashamed to have a fan like you,” Shen Jintai said. “You think I was born yesterday? What you intend to do, you think that I couldn’t tell?”

Qian Jiashu didn’t seem to have slept much all night. He had given up his sophistry. He lowered his head in embarrassment and said, “Yes… I’m sorry.”

“If you like me, you can chase me. I may not like you back, but at least I’ll respect you. What you did was despicable. When a man does this, he’s considered scum.”

“I just like you so much, I…”

“It’s a beautiful thing to like someone, so don’t defile that word,” Shen Jintai said. “I won’t report you, but I hope I won’t see you again in the future.”

For a fan, there was nothing more damaging to their self-esteem than an idol’s disgust. Qian Jiashu flushed with embarrassment as he glanced at Gao Qiao. Gao Qiao didn’t say anything, so he quietly slipped away like a mouse.

“Can you thank President Yan for me?” Shen Jintai said to Gao Qiao.

“President Yan said that he would do the same for others.” Gao Qiao remained expressionless. “He didn’t cause any real harm yesterday, and he’s also a public figure. If he makes a big noise, it’ll have a bad impact on him, so this matter can be considered settled. You won’t have to worry. President Yan has talked to him, and he will not step out of line in the future.”

Shen Jintai nodded.

Li Meilan and Xiao Tang were completely lost, standing nearby. They had no idea what was going on. They were about to grab Shen Jintai’s arm and ask when Gao Qiao, who was walking to the door, paused and turned around: “I have a few things I wanted to say myself, Mr. Shen.”

“Go ahead.”

“What you said just now was very good. It is a beautiful thing to like someone, but if the other party doesn’t return your feelings but you continue to stalk them, isn’t it like Qian Jiashu? Mr. Shen, you should also know how it feels to be such a low life, right?”

This Gao Qiao was indeed the most loyal assistant to the protagonist. He wholeheartedly believed in Yan Qiuchi.

“Don’t worry. You can tell President Yan that he can also rest assured.” Shen Jintai knew that it was useless to say these words. His tarnished image had been deeply ingrained in everyone’s eyes and couldn’t easily be reversed. “A lot has happened in these past few days. People can change, including myself.”

Gao Qiao had been with Yan Qiuchi for a long time. Overtime he had been infected with his temper. As his assistant, when Yan Qiuchi had to act restrained, he would play the role of a blackface*.

*(黑脸) Reference to Peking opera. It is the facial makeup of the drama character that reflects the character of the actors playing the role. The person who draws the black face usually plays the character who’s brave and reckless or selfless. It is also used to describe someone as harsh and unsympathetic. English equivalent would be the “bad cop” in good cop/bad cop. I’m not sure if it’s also related to “blackface” as Americans know it, but it is extremely offensive, disrespectful, and racist. Don’t do it.

“President Yan’s coat.”

Shen Jintai was dumbfounded for a moment. He returned to his room, picked up Yan Qiuchi’s coat, and handed it to Gao Qiao. Gao Qiao bowed, grabbed the coat, and walked out. His attitude was extremely arrogant.

Shen Jintai gave a small chuckle. When he turned around, he saw Li Meilan and Xiao Tang looking bewildered and speechless. He relayed to them what happened yesterday. Xiao Tang became furious. “How could such a thing happen?!”

“President Yan handled it very well,” Li Meilan said. “It’s not easy to get this kind of person to apologize, and it’ll only cause more trouble if it’s publicized.”

“You can thank Yan Qiuchi for me,” Shen Jintai said. “I won’t thank him personally.”

Not showing up in front of Yan Qiuchi was the best thank you he could give him, right?

This feeling of uneasiness was really uncomfortable. He didn’t know how the previous Shen Jintai could be so happy*.

*Clarity: He’s saying that he has a bad feeling because Yan Qiuchi has always treated the old Shen Jintai coldly. Even when he saved him last night, he didn’t do it out of affection or care, but simply because it was morally correct. The new Shen Jintai feels uneasy about this matter, especially when he knows how Yan Qiuchi feels about the old Shen Jintai. He couldn’t comprehend how Shen Jintai could be happy previously chasing after someone who didn’t return his feelings. (Technically he wasn’t since he did commit suicide).

He certainly couldn’t do it. He didn’t want to be entangled with Yan Qiuchi anymore. It was best just to treat him like a stranger.

—

“He told you that?” Yan Qiuchi asked Gao Qiao.

Gao Qiao nodded. “He was quite serious and didn’t seem to be lying. He might not really like you anymore.” After finishing his sentence, he immediately regretted it, feeling that it was an inappropriate thing to say.

Fortunately, President Yan had always had a dull personality and never looked too deeply into things. He rubbed his palms together and quickly said, “I have sent your coat to be washed.”

Yan Qiuchi had originally planned to be onsite to supervise when the filming started. Unfortunately, his itinerary was booked, and he had to go abroad. To replace him, he sent the company’s Vice President instead.

“Go with Vice President Zhang.” He told Gao Qiao. “If you have any questions, call me directly.” Gao Qiao had been his assistant for many years and had proven his capabilities. Now that his abilities had developed well, Yan Qiuchi intended to promote him by allowing him to acquire more experience in the field.

Gao Qiao nodded. “Yes.” He took Yan Qiuchi to the airport and went to visit the set with Vice President Zhang.

—

<The East Palace is Coming> used the model of filming while broadcasting. The broadcast was set after a month of filming, so the script had to be chronologically shot with only a few small adjustments. For example, the scene currently being filmed was a rivalry scene between the male and female leads that was supposed to appear in the second episode. In order to get a good rehearsal, the crew first filmed a clip of their first meeting.

The heroine, He Lanbi, followed her mother into the palace to visit her aunt, Empress Xiao, played by Song Wei. Empress Xiao originally wanted to betroth her to her own son, Crown Prince Zhou Ying. However, during the process of entering the palace, the heroine fell in love with the male protagonist.

The male protagonist is Zhou Jing, the second prince, played by Bai Qingquan. He was the son of Concubine De, who died young. He was the least favored of the princes.

This scene only had one requirement. Beauty.

The peach blossoms were in full bloom as their flowers fell, decorating the sky. The fans were blowing on the side, creating a scene where He Lanbi’s skirt seemed like it was floating.

Shen Jintai sat nearby, with a small electric fan blowing on his face. Li Meilan squatted down next to him and whispered, “So talented and beautiful.”

The scene was quite eye-catching. It was needless to describe Yang Lizhi’s beauty. After all, she was a xiao huadan*. She was dressed in a famous ancient costume. Bai Qingquan’s ancient costume was even more beautiful and noble. Despite having a separate stylist, their hair and costumes looked almost identical. The scene was very textured when looking at them.

*Refers to almost all young actresses, regardless of their popularity, reputation, and acting skills. Because of the various standards, it’s divided into several lines representing their status and popularity in the industry. Specifically, the 1st line covers the most popular actresses and whatnot.

As soon as the director yelled “cut”, multiple people immediately surrounded Bai Qingquan and patted him with makeup and enthusiastically fanned him. He took a small mirror to look at his makeup and saw in the reflection Shen Jintai staring at him.

On such a hot day, he was dressed in a heavy costume, while Shen Jintai wore a simple T-shirt, holding a small electric fan, looking just fine.

Bai Qingquan gave Shen Jintai a smile.

Shen Jintai immediately waved his hand, feeling the beating of his heart grow louder. He couldn’t help but think that the system was very friendly to him. He was served with a beautiful little fresh meat like Bai Qingquan. If he were to attack an ugly bastard, he would have to become extremely thick-skinned if he wanted to survive.

Shen Jintai had no scenes today. Although he didn’t have any scenes, he was still excited to watch the filming from the side. He likes filming. Just seeing the machine, equipment, and artificial light made him feel excited, like he was at the peak of a mountain.

After staying on the set for two hours, he went to the hotel arranged by the crew.

The hotel was located in a film and television city. The hotel conditions in the film and television city were generally very limited. The living room itself was usually rudimentary. He was surprised when he opened his hotel room and found the suite that was arranged for him turned out to be large and luxurious. It seemed the crew attached great importance to him, which made him very satisfied.

“Are all the rooms this good? Qingquan’s and Yang Lizhi’s rooms must be just as luxurious. The outside of the hotel looked ordinary, so I didn’t expect that it would be this fancy inside,” Li Meilan said. The hotel had many rooms, so she and Xiao Tang could stay in them if they had nothing to do.

Shen Jintai opened the door to the balcony and stood outside. He took a sweeping view of the film and television city, which made him feel refreshed. This was where he’d continue to struggle in the future.

Before heading home to pick up his luggage, he asked Xiao Tang to buy cold drinks and deliver them to the set. When the car pulled out of the gate, he saw a group of little girls standing on the side of the road. It looked like they were fans who came to squat*.

*(蹲守) Specifically referring to hiding somewhere waiting for the target to appear. I wanted to provide clarity as squatting can mean different things in English.

He asked Xiao Tang to stop the car, rolled down the window, and asked, “Who are you waiting for?”

The group of little girls looked at him aghast, like they had seen a ghost. “We’re fans of Bai Qingquan,” a fat girl from the group said with some contempt.

Moonlight powders. No wonder why they were so hostile.

The sun was blazing outside. There wasn’t a single spot of cool shade anywhere. Even having an umbrella would’ve been useless. The little girl’s face was flushed from the heat and her forehead was drenched in sweat.

“He won’t be out until night,” Shen Jintai said. “You’ll be waiting here for ages.”

The little girls’ expressions were subtle. The leader was the most hostile, while the others looked at him shyly. Shen Jintai smiled and asked Xiao Tang to give them a box of cold drinks. “Qingquan knows that you guys are waiting for him out here, but his workload is full today, so he has no time to come out. He asked me to bring these to you guys. You guys have worked hard.”

The girls were reluctant to accept the drinks at first, but when they heard that it was Bai Qingquan’s request, they immediately cheered. They held the cold drinks with adoration since it was from the love of their brother!

Xiao Tang said, “Why are you trying to be a good person for Bai Qingquan? Look at their attitude towards you.”

“It’s not easy for little girls to chase stars,” Shen Jintai said. “I don’t know when I’ll have fans squatting for me.”

“The gold powders are discussing it. They said that when the crew opens up the set for visits, they will definitely come,” Xiao Tang said.

“Then should I prepare gifts for them?”

“They’ll bring you gifts,” Xiao Tang said. “But if you also prepare gifts for them, they will definitely be happy.”

“Then help prepare their gifts. It doesn’t need to be expensive. It’s a matter of heart,” Li Meilan said. “After all, this is the first gig of your comeback. It will look more sincere if you do it. Let Xiao Tang help you with this.”

“I’d better prepare myself,” Shen Jintai said. “I’ll think about it these coming days.”

He looked at the announcement form from the crew. The first open set visit would be a week later. There would be a banquet with all the ensemble cast, including the leads.

Since he would be officially joining the crew tomorrow, Shen Jintai went to bed early when he returned home. He woke up the next day radiantly. As he was about to set off, he ran into Mrs. Yan and Yan Yaoxuan, who were waiting for him downstairs.

Mrs. Yan: “Let’s go.”

“What’s going on?” Shen Jintai said as he was holding his suitcase.

“This is a gift. This is the first time I’ve been to a film set, and I’m coming to cheer you on.”

“Our crew hasn’t opened up for visitors yet.”

“I’m Yan Qiuchi’s mother. Do they dare not let me in?” Mrs. Yan said. “Come now. I’m just sending some warmth to the crew.”

Mrs. Yan made a big deal when she visited. Truckloads of gifts were delivered to the set, making Shen Jintai speechless.

Vice-President Zhang and Director Guo ran out to greet Mrs. Yan. The staff carried the gifts down box by box. Mrs. Yan took Shen Jintai’s arm and told the crew, “Take care of him.”

Everyone in the crew knew how entangled Shen Jintai was with Yan Qiuchi and that their relationship was severely poor. They didn’t expect his relationship with Mrs. Yan to be this good.

Was this some roundabout tactics? Take down the mother-in-law first to get to the son?

“Who’s that?” Yang Lizhi, who was wearing only a thin layer, asked while a little fan was blowing on her.

Bai Qingquan glared coldly in their direction. “President Yan’s mother.”

“She’s Fang Fengmei!” Yang Lizhi immediately sat up straight. Fang Fengmei was a real lady*. Her temperament was unparalleled.

*(真正的名媛) What this is referring to is that she is known far and wide and has very high prestige, whether it’s through her elite status, abilities, skills she possesses, or other things. It doesn’t necessarily have to be related to the entertainment circle. Basically, her fame precedes her.

It was no wonder President Yan was so handsome. It turned out that his mother was this beautiful.

When Mrs. Yan came, rumors started flying around the entire crew. The biggest gay scandal of the century: the dog-blooded drama between a top idol and an iceberg prince at the 8 o’clock file*. However, it turned out that they only knew half the rumors of the prince’s being unmoved by the idol’s affection. The other half, unexpectedly, was that Shen Jintai had already conquered the mother!

*Television term refers to shows broadcasted from 8:00 – 9:00 PM Mondays – Fridays.

When Shen Jintai went for makeup, Mrs. Yan, who was accompanied by Vice President Zhang, walked around the set. She asked him, “Which one is Bai Qingquan?” She had seen Bai Qingquan’s videos and photos before, but she couldn’t remember what he had looked like.

Vice President Zhang pointed to him. “The one sitting on the chair.”

Mrs. Yan looked at him coldly. His small appearance was very attractive. However, it may not be good for a man to be too beautiful. After all, this green tea bitch’s appearance was what had blinded everyone. Mrs. Yan thought Shen Jintai was cuter and more pleasing to the eye.

My own children are always cuter.

—

“Your lip color is so beautiful,” The makeup artist said to Shen Jintai. “You don’t need to apply lipstick.”

Shen Jintai ate makeup. His original facial features were dull and lifeless. However, adding some makeup improved his complexion by a few degrees. After he finished applying the makeup, the makeup artist helped Shen Jintai put on his costume. After adjustment, Shen Jintai looked like a handsome young man in ancient times.

Group dramas* are the most difficult to shoot, especially for big scenes like today. Almost half of the leading actors were on set, waiting for their scenes to be shot. The wait can last a long time.

*Ensemble cast (群戏) The leading actors in the scenes are arranged roughly in an equal manner. Also known as the lead, or regular role. This method of selection is especially popular in TV dramas because it allows for flexible use and allows writers to focus on different roles in different events. In addition, under this premise, the damage to the story caused by an actor’s departure is lower than that of the big-name star from a fixed lineup.

Shen Jintai wasn’t idle. He was Bai Qingquan’s personal eunuch. He stood behind Bai Qingquan serving him. Mrs. Yan, who since childhood had never been stained with spring water*, looked at him and felt distressed to death.

*(没沾过阳春水) Reference to ten fingers don’t touch the spring water (十指不沾阳春水). It’s a saying referring to having good family conditions and being so pampered that you don’t need to wash your own clothes or do your own housework. It usually refers to a spoiled and pampered person and usually refers to a woman from a wealthy family.

This filming really isn’t suitable as a human job.

She felt so wronged for Shen Jintai. Not only for the role he was playing, but what was worse was that he was paired with that little demon, Bai Qingquan. However, she also felt relieved. Shen Jintai used to have a very bad temper. He had matured greatly and could bear hardships now that his family was going through tough times. Not once did he complain while acting out his scene.

In this first scene, Shen Jintai had no lines. He was still excited. He was born with a desire to perform and had an unusual love for acting. Once he adorned a costume, he could completely forget himself. He currently was a little eunuch in all his heart and soul.

Although he had no lines, he still had close-up shots. According to the script, this was the second time he had taken the initiative to provoke Crown Prince Zhou Ying. At the banquet, he secretly raised his eyebrows and looked cautiously and ambiguously at the prince who was sitting opposite him.

Mrs. Yan and Yan Yaoxuan were nearby watching the filming. It was a bit messy, and the lighting wasn’t bright. When they looked behind the director’s monitor, they couldn’t describe their feelings of amazement.

On the screen was another world of light and shadow. After polishing and toning, every frame of the picture became beautifully transparent and mesmerizing. Shen Jintai had thrown a glance at the prince, then lowered his head slightly. The prince’s face on the screen gradually blurred, and the shot adjusted to film Shen Jintai’s face. It slowly zoomed in on his drooping eyelashes and to the corner of his lips that held a fleeting smile.

Mrs. Yan was astonished. She thought she knew Shen Jintai, but this person looked completely unfamiliar.

“The eyes are quite nice,” Guo Rui couldn’t help but say.

Yan Yaoxuan felt that his heart was beating uncontrollably. He licked his lips as he watched Shen Jintai’s sliding Adam’s apple, the snowy lining, and the cyan robe all bathe under the jade-colored light.

—

Yan Qiuchi woke up from his sleep with sweat on his forehead. He actually dreamed of Shen Jintai.

The dream was still vivid in his mind. His heartbeat was pounding violently, and his body was soaked in sweat. He put his hands on his chest. He felt a lingering feeling of the dream between his fingers and abdomen, and his palms were wet.

---

The author has something to say:

I would like to use this scene shot of Shen Jintai for the first trailer.

Wait for online reviews.

A lot of things have happened recently, and everyone has changed, and so have I. This sentence is also applicable to chasing wives in the crematorium.

---

Kinky Thoughts:

I’m having a gay panic right now. When I picked up this novel, I thought it would be easy to translate since it was a showbiz novel set in modern days. What I really wanted to avoid was translating anything in a historical setting (especially historical China). But lo and behold, the first series they decided to film is exactly that. What have I gotten myself into…

S.O.S Please send help.

Side note: Yan Qiuchi is about to learn a great lesson, “You don’t know what you got, until it’s gone.”

---

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

Author: 公子于歌 / Gong Zi Yu Ge

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

---

Chapter 25: Save the Hero

Holding the corners of an adult’s clothes like a child made Shen Jintai’s heart feel safe. The grip was tight, and Yan Qiuchi couldn’t turn around even if he wanted to. He was thoroughly caught. Yan Qiuchi suspected Shen Jintai was only pretending to be drunk.

“President Yan…” The waiter hesitated to come forward.

Yan Qiuchi originally wanted the waiter to take Shen Jintai back to his room or call Shen Jintai’s assistant over, but given his current situation, he couldn’t move. He didn’t want to break Shen Jintai’s hand in front of everybody, so he resigned to his fate. He hesitated, and then, with a cold face, picked up Shen Jintai.

The crowd of onlookers gave way. After picking him up, Yan Qiuchi realized that he didn’t know which room Shen Jintai was staying in. Due to the banquet, there were many celebrities tonight, and each of them had their own rooms. Asking the front desk now would only attract more attention and create trouble. He needed to take Shen Jintai away first.

He carried Shen Jintai to the elevator. “21^st floor.” The waiter hurriedly pressed the elevator button for Yan Qiuchi and hesitated whether he should follow them or not. He knew about the entanglements between Yan Qiuchi and Shen Jintai, but he decided to follow them anyway. As the elevator door was closing, he clasped his hands together, tiptoed slightly, becoming both excited and tormented at his decision, and vaguely heard Shen Jintai let out a “Nnn,” as he was twisting his body inside Yan Qiuchi’s embrace.

Holy shit!

Holy shit!

He pursed his lips and looked up at the numbers on the elevator that was slowly ascending. He then heard Yan Qiuchi said coldly, “Hold still for a minute.” Shen Jintai immediately obeyed.

Wow, wow, wow! An overbearing president and a hot star! The waiter saw Yan Qiuchi carry Shen Jintai into his room. He felt sad that he couldn’t continue to follow Yan Qiuchi. It seemed that the relationship between the two of them wasn’t as bad as rumors had it.

Yan Qiuchi put Shen Jintai on the sofa and found that Shen Jintai was still clutching the corners of his clothes. Now out of sight of everyone’s eyes, he stretched out his hands and pried Shen Jintai’s fingers off him, though try as he might, he couldn’t get Shen Jintai to let go.

“Let go.”

Shen Jintai let out a soft groan that sounded very sorrowful.

When Shen Jintai had chased him in the past, he also pretended to be drunk. Yan Qiuchi would always send him home, resulting in Shen Jintai screaming, shouting, and hollering all the way back. It was obvious back then he was faking it, given his violent and aggressive behavior. Looking at the Shen Jintai in front of him now, the sounds felt weaker and had a sultrier feeling, as if it had been consumed by alcohol and the body no longer obeyed the owner’s will.

Yan Qiuchi face darkened. “Drinking too much will make you go crazy.”

Shen Jintai’s face was still covered in tears. He had to put on makeup for the occasion today since he was going to be on camera. He started rubbing his face, smearing it everywhere, showing an extremely pitiful scene.

Yan Qiuchi hadn’t looked at this face seriously for many years. In the past, his face was covered with brilliant colors full of longing. Now it had returned to its original appearance, showing beautiful facial features and a strange sense of fragility. The only difference was that his lips were extremely rosy and his face was faintly flushed from the wine. It was very alluring.

To break free from Shen Jintai, Yan Qiuchi took off his coat. After catching his breath, he called his assistant, Gao Qiao. “Contact Shen Jintai’s agent and ask her to come to my room.” Assistant Qiao hurriedly contacted Li Meilan.

Li Meilan was busily swiping Weibo. They had expected that Shen Jintai would be torn apart by moonlight powder tonight, but unexpectedly he got a lot of praise. It was really surprising. Her phone suddenly rang. She connected her phone and said joyfully, “Hello, this is Li Meilan.”

“Hello, I’m Assistant Qiao from Sunshine Media. President Yan wants you to go to his room. He’s staying in room 2109.”

The relationship between Li Meilan and Yan Qiuchi was tense because of Shen Jintai. She asked warily, “President Yan personally called for me?”

Assistant Qiao was also very puzzled. “Yes.”

Li Meilan nervously came to the door of room 2109 and knocked. Yan Qiuchi opened the door. He was wearing a white shirt with his sleeves rolled up. “Come in.”

Li Meilan bowed and cautiously entered the door. As soon as she entered, she saw Shen Jintai lying on the sofa clinging to his coat.

Fuck! Isn’t this the coat that President Yan was wearing tonight?!

Li Meilan blushed and turned pale. She didn’t know what was going on. She really had nothing to do with this. It’s useless to interrogate her!

“He drank too much,” Yan Qiuchi said. “You can take care of him here.”

Li Meilan hurried over and patted Shen Jintai. Shen Jintai didn’t react at all. He was fast asleep. There was another knock at the door. Yan Qiuchi went to open the door and in came Assistant Qiao carrying a coat. When he saw Li Meilan and Shen Jintai inside, he was so shocked he almost dropped the coat in his hands. His eyes widened as he handed Yan Qiuchi the coat.

Damn this Shen Jintai! As soon as they dropped their guard, he became entangled with President Yan again! President Yan was definitely pissed. He gave Yan Qiuchi a cautious glance.

Yan Qiuchi put on his coat, turned around and said to Li Meilan, “The room card is in the pocket of that coat in his hand. Just stay here and accompany him.”

Li Meilan stood up quickly and nodded. She dared not ask what the fuck was going on.

Li Meilan and Assistant Qiao gave each other an uncertain look as they left.

After Yan Qiuchi and Assistant Qiao had left, Li Meilan immediately sat down on the sofa and patted Shen Jintai’s arm with a slap. “Shen Jintai, wake up!”

Shen Jintai opened his eyes in a daze. Though he recognized her, he didn’t listen to her and said, “Sister Lan… Fuck… Somebody hit me.”

Li Meilan: “…”

Who hit you? Yan Qiuchi? How nice it is to be young! You’re all drunk and confused.

She immediately called Xiao Tang. “Buy some hangover medicine and deliver it to room 2109.”

—

Assistant Qiao followed Yan Qiuchi and entered the elevator. He couldn’t help but be curious. Relying on the fact that he was favored, he asked, “President Yan, is Shen Jintai entangled with you again?”

Yan Qiuchi’s face was gloomy. “Many people saw that I carried him up to the room. If this gets out, let the public relations department handle it.”

Assistant Qiao nodded, knowing that Yan Qiuchi didn’t want to say anything more.

Yan Qiuchi’s throat bobbed, his thin lips curled and tightened as he rubbed the palm of his right hand. He rarely had close contact with people. It was the first time he had ever princess carry someone. It felt very light. Shen Jintai was lighter than he thought. Though he was 1.8 meters tall, he didn’t seem to have much meat on his body.

But it would be inaccurate to say there was no meat. Since it was his first time carrying someone, he didn’t know the proper way to hold him, so he accidentally grabbed Shen Jintai’s ass with one of his hands. He had never touched somebody’s ass before, so at that moment he was shocked.

It was like watching an educational film* for the first time in his adolescence. His heart was pounding madly. Even if he hurried to move his hand away, he couldn’t dissipate the heat from the touch. He chalked it up to simply drinking too much at tonight’s banquet. This momentary feeling had no deeper meaning. It simply showed he was just a normal man. He had no affection for Shen Jintai.

*I’m not sure if there’s some kind of deeper implication to educational film (教育片). I suspect it might be referring to a sex-ed film.

No one knew the truth about Shen Jintai’s harassment. The only person who knew the inside story was currently incapacitated. Assistant Qiao, who loves to gossip, wanted to get to the bottom of the matter and figure out what happened.

He investigated it and learned through several witnesses that Shen Jintai got drunk and went crazy. He then ran into Yan Qiuchi, who took him upstairs.

Was it really that simple? Was Shen Jintai pretending to be drunk so he could hook up with President Yan?

With a strong desire to explore the truth, Assistant Qiao decided to look at the surveillance camera. He wanted to figure out what tricks Shen Jintai was playing. Just because the Yan family was cultured didn’t mean they could be easily taken advantage of*.

*Wipe the oil (揩油) Metaphor for taking advantage of others.

As a result, he was stunned when he saw the surveillance video.

Fuck!

Where did this wretched lunatic come from?! He even tried to take advantage of Shen Jintai!

Based on what he saw, Shen Jintai was definitely drunk. Otherwise, he would have made the other man cry for his mother and father. The surveillance video was clear, showing the other party as a very handsome young man. He also wore expensive clothing, signifying he was either rich or an elite. Combined with the security at the hotel and those who could attend had to have an invitation, it was unlikely it was just a random unknown person who snuck in. 

Though Assistant Qiao disliked Shen Jintai, he was still furious when he saw this kind of thing. He hesitated to tell Yan Qiuchi.

Although Yan Qiuchi was involved in the entertainment industry, he rarely appeared in the spotlight. The only reason so many people knew of him wasn’t because of his status as a member of the Yan family, but because of his association with Shen Jintai.

When it came to Yan Qiuchi, the most common thing everyone said was “the man being chased by Shen Jintai”. He was an innocent party in the matter, but he couldn’t avoid getting dragged into the scandal anyway.

Yan Qiuchi was reviewing the financial statements for the quarter when Assistant Qiao came to see him. When he saw Assistant Qiao entered, he threw the statements on the table and said, “Who did the statements this time? Did the accounting method change? Call them and have them redo it.”

Assistant Qiao acknowledged it with a nod and picked up the financial statements. Yan Qiuchi raised his head and said, “Is something wrong?”

Assistant Qiao struggled internally for a long time before he spoke. “I went to investigate the situation. It turns out Shen Jintai was really drunk and was being taken advantage of. I looked at the surveillance cameras.”

Yan Qiuchi was flabbergasted. When he saw Shen Jintai, Shen Jintai was drunk and acting erratic.

“Who tried to take advantage of him?” Yan Qiuchi asked.

“I’m not sure. He looks a little familiar.” He stepped forward and handed over his phone. On it was a recording of the surveillance footage.

Yan Qiuchi took the phone and watched it. His face got more and more sordid as he continued watching. Yan Qiuchi was a serious person. Though Shen Jintai irritated him to no end, he would never gloat or feel happy seeing the other party bullied or exploited.

Assistant Qiao: “Do you know him?”

Yan Qiuchi knew. It was the son of the Qian clan family head, Qian Jiashu.

—

After Qian Jiashu ran away, he felt afraid and regret. He was afraid that he would’ve gotten caught. Fortunately, no one was around, otherwise his reputation would be over. He regretted that he hadn’t taken decisive action. At that time, a terrifying idea had sprouted in his heart. Wanting to take advantage of the fact that there was nobody around in the corridor, he wanted to take Shen Jintai away. If he had been firmer in his conviction, he might have succeeded.

Hold the courageous to death, starve the cowardly*!

*(撑死胆大饿死胆小) Proverb meaning the courage to take risks will gain many benefits, while a timid and cautious person will often get little benefit.

Shen Jintai was like an immortal to him. He was so close to kissing a god!

Qian Jiashu tidied up his clothes and walked towards the exit of the hotel. Before he could reach the door, a security guard stopped him.

Qian Jiashu frowned. “What are you doing?”

“Mr. Qian,” Assistant Qiao, who was nearby, put down the coffee in his hand, walked over with a smile and said, “President Yan has something to discuss with you. I’m sorry, but we’ll have to delay you.”

—

Shen Jintai slept all night. When he woke up the next day, he had a splitting headache. He had finally realized the limits of his alcohol tolerance now. He sat down on the side of the bed and found that he was still holding on to a coat in his hand. A vague memory appeared in his mind. He recalled that he had met Yan Qiuchi before losing consciousness. This seemed to be Yan Qiuchi’s coat.

Fuck.

He quickly opened his blanket. He was wearing pajamas! Suddenly, he became wide awake. He quickly got up out of bed and rubbed his hair. Did he sleep with Yan Qiuchi? Why did he have memories of sleeping with Yan Qiuchi? He vaguely remembered that his legs were wrapped around Yan Qiuchi’s shoulders.

Shen Jintai became numb all over. He couldn’t tell what was reality and what was a dream.

He was about to take off his pajamas and rinse off when he saw a person coming in. He immediately wrapped the blanket around himself and rushed to the door.

Xiao Tang pushed the door open, heading inside while eating red bean paste with a spoon. “Brother Jin, you’re awake!”

“Why are you here?” Shen Jintai looked at the strange and luxurious bedroom. “Where is this?”

“Brother Jin, you were drunk last night, and President Yan brought you to his room.”

Shen Jintai was sluggish for half a minute. Fuck me, it wasn’t a dream!

A burst of heat rose from his body as his face instantly turned red. He fell to his knees and rubbed his hair as he heard Li Meilan say, “Aren’t you quick to wake up? Have you forgotten to turn on the power today? Your face is red and puffy. How are you going to be able to film?”

Xiao Tang whispered, “Brother Jin doesn’t have any scenes on the first day.”

Shen Jintai glanced up at Xiao Tang and Li Meilan. “You guys go out first while I shower.”

Li Meilan said, “Your clothes have already been prepared. Wash up quickly. Even if you don’t have any scenes, you should still go to the filming site to get better acquainted with the environment.”

After the two of them went out, Shen Jintai got up. He didn’t know whether it was an illusion or his hangover, but he felt his legs were being disobedient. An image floated in his mind of his feet dangling on Yan Qiuchi’s shoulders.

When he got to the bathroom, he didn’t even have the courage to check himself. As the water from the shower fell on him, his memory started to become clearer. After washing for a long time, he felt that all of it was unlikely.

There was no soreness in his stomach. In the original novel, stomach swollenness and soreness were consequences that always occurred after sleeping with Yan Qiuchi.

“How long have you been here?” Shen Jintai was drying his hair as he came out of the bedroom. His expression remained calm. “Was I sent here by Yan Qiuchi?”

“You drank so much that you don’t even know how you got here?” Li Meilan told him the situation yesterday. “When I received a call from his assistant, I was really confused.”

“So he left after you came.” Shen Jintai sighed with relief.

“Of course. What did you want? For him to stay with you all night? Thinking about doing this and that?”

Shen Jintai held his chest as he sat down on the sofa. It turned out to be a dream.

Also, according to the ability of the male protagonist, if he really slept with Yan Qiuchi, the end result shouldn’t be like this. As a drunk person, it would have been impossible for him to top Yan Qiuchi.

When two 1’s meet, there must be a 0. In front of Yan Qiuchi, he could only be beaten or eaten.

He couldn’t believe he had had a dream of sleeping with Yan Qiuchi. In his dream, Yan Qiuchi also deliberately didn’t shave his beard and had rubbed all over him with his unshaven face.

What a fucking dream!

He remembered that when he was reading <Everyone Loves Bai Yueguang>, he once threw bombs* and left a comment asking the author: [Can you have President Yan not shave for three days?]

*System in jjwxc where readers can throw bombs to help increase a novel’s ranking. It’s a way that readers can thank the author and show support.

The clever author understood in seconds and replied: [I have taken notes!] And that was the source of how such a scene came about.

Thinking about his dream, Shen Jintai quickly covered his chest. Thank God he didn’t choose may cherry as his reward.

---

The author has something to say:

Just because you don’t choose now doesn’t mean you won’t choose in the future, young man.

---

Kinky Thoughts:

Way to go Assistant Qiao for clearing up that misunderstanding! You are the MVP of this chapter.

Ohohoho. The author is so devious in his thoughts. The may cherries will ripen early~~

---

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