Chapter 70: Rain
An Zhiyan left the parlor, returned to the living room, and sat on the couch. He told Jiang Pingqiu, "Have someone keep an eye out to see if Shen Cheng has left."
"Okay."
"Also, check if there are any paparazzi around. We can't let Shen Cheng be photographed."
After saying this, An Zhiyan wished he could bite his own tongue.
Despite being this angry, he still had to worry about whether Shen Cheng had been photographed secretly, fearing that Su Jinli would be dragged into a scandal.
The current Su Jinli had to tread carefully. His position was unstable, and there were many eyes on him. If he made the slightest mistake, he would face days and nights of criticism.
If he doesn't handle it well, he won't be able to regain his popularity in the future.
That's how the entertainment industry works.
When people lift you up, they will spare no effort.
But when they push you down from the pedestal, they will be elated.
An Zhiyan sat on the sofa, trying hard to calm himself down. Jiang Pingqiu had already brought an eye mask for him.
He no longer resisted, closing his eyes to feel the cold temperature of the eye mask, his heart filled with desolation.
"Young Master An, have you ever considered that Shen Cheng and Su Jinli's relationship might not be what you think?" Seeing that An Zhiyan had finally calmed down, Jiang Pingqiu couldn't help but remind him.
"What, are you afraid that they won't pass the scrutiny, so they're just like brothers?" An Zhiyan retorted with a cold snort.
After asking, he suddenly sat up straight, ripping off the eye mask.
Su Jinli was a Koi spirit.
Shen Cheng could identify Su Jinli's identity just from having his head touched by him — did this imply that Shen Cheng might also be a spirit?
How could he have overlooked this?
He quickly figured it out.
He had earlier held a sliver of hope that Su Jinli's orientation was the same as his own. Seeing Shen Cheng treating Su Jinli well, he became irrationally jealous.
Subconsciously, he would assume that Su Jinli was gay, and that there were ambiguous relations between him and Shen Cheng.
A classic case of subjective consciousness affecting judgment.
Also, he didn't want to think about Shen Cheng, as thinking of him gave him a headache, so he only thought about Su Jinli.
Whenever he thought about Su Jinli, he got lost in thoughts about how cute, excellent, and wonderful Su Jinli was, making it difficult to consider anything else.
Su Jinli had said before that he had come down the mountain to find his brother, whom he hadn't seen in a long while.
A while ago, Su Jinli sought Shen Cheng, saying he wanted to confirm something and dared not speak carelessly before the confirmation.
Now in retrospect, he probably wanted to confirm if Shen Cheng was his brother. Coincidentally, Shen Cheng discovered the mark left by Su Jinli on his head and quickly found Su Jinli.
So… was Shen Cheng Su Jinli's brother?
An Zhiyan immediately stood up, pacing back and forth in the room. Finally, he banged his forehead against the wall: "I would rather have Su Jinli be a scumbag than Shen Cheng being his brother."
An—Unlucky, Extremely Unlucky—Zhiyan, the biggest luck he had in this life, was probably just being born.
He was a dashing man, seemingly popular, but he knew very well that not many of his assistants dared to keep their distance, and he barely had any friends who could speak to him properly!
Popular, my ass! It was simply a constitution that required isolation, and he was allergic to even the air.
Since his debut, he has been criticized, and only recently has he seen a slight turnaround.
Then he fell for an angelic young man, good-looking, talented, kind-hearted, and likable.
He fell in love and became infatuated, started his pursuit, and then realized that the person he had fallen for was his enemy's younger brother.
He fell in love with an angel, and the angel's brother was a demon.
He had searched for ways to please his future brother-in-law, but now all he wanted to do was smash his phone.
No need to please; as long as he got close to Su Jinli, Shen Cheng would fight with him.
He could imagine Shen Cheng currently brainwashing little Su Jinli, and Su Jinli with his innocent face acting like "Wow! You're spot on!" The mere thought made An Zhiyan's head hurt.
Su Jinli was naive and gullible. Even when An Zhiyan tricked him, Su Jinli could be easily swayed to the point where he would even initiate a kiss.
With a few words from Shen Cheng, an old fox, Su Jinli would definitely go along with, "Listen to my brother, don’t hurt him."
An Zhiyan, holding on to his last hope, asked Jiang Pingqiu, "Does Shen Cheng's file mention anything about him having a younger brother?"
"I just sent someone to check. Shen Cheng once mentioned in an interview that he only has a younger brother left in his family. However, due to his busy work and living in different places, it has been a long time since he last saw his brother."
"What about their registered place of residence?"
"No information can be found about their ID cards."
"Then how did they sign the contract?" An Zhiyan asked in confusion.
"Their ID cards seem to be issued by a special organization. When trying to inquire about their detailed information, a warning was issued immediately."
"So it’s impossible to find any information about either of them?"
"Yes."
"Great... just great…" An Zhiyan despaired.
Was there any way to get past Shen Cheng's obstacle?
Perhaps… give up?
But how could he easily give up on Su Jinli, who was so wonderful? Moreover, once he has tasted the sweetness, he naturally wouldn't compromise so easily.
It was An Zhiyan who liked Su Jinli first. Su Jinli had clearly rejected him, and it was An Zhiyan who relentlessly pursued him and was unwilling to give up. The current situation of him being torn between the two was created by himself.
It wasn't wrong not to like him; he couldn't blame Su Jinli for that.
"I feel like Su Jinli and I are like Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai." An Zhiyan said resentfully.
Upon hearing this, Jiang Pingqiu couldn't help but cough, then clearing his throat, he said, "Young Master An, let me pour you a cup of water."
"Romeo and Juliet," An Zhiyan added.
"Do you want a drink or tea? Or juice?"
"No, I'm not Romeo. Romeo contains the word 'ou' in his name, but I am 'Romi' without the 'ou'."
"…"
________________________
The next morning, the contestants went for makeup and rehearsal again.
Since Su Jinli's ancient costume makeup took longer, he left early and knocked on An Zhiyan's door, as he needed An Zhiyan's makeup artist.
Opening the door was Jiang Pingqiu, who walked in to see Lily already there, helping An Zhiyan with his hairstyle.
When Su Jinli walked in, he saw An Zhiyan looking at him and immediately stood guiltily.
An Zhiyan took out his phone from his pocket and showed it to Su Jinli, "Last night, I tried to talk to you and discovered that you had blocked me. What's going on?"
"My brother doesn't allow me to add you as a friend…" Su Jinli replied weakly.
"My brother…"
An Zhiyan's vision darkened.
"So, you just listen to him? What about when I arrange work for you in the future?"
"Usually, my manager arranges my work." Su Jinli replied confidently, obviously Shen Cheng had said something beforehand.
"But I'm your direct leader."
"Then you can call me."
An Zhiyan was helpless, so angry that his stomach hurt, and he didn't want to eat breakfast anymore.
"Did your brother leave?" An Zhiyan asked again.
"Yes, he left last night."
Su Jinli was quite disappointed. He originally thought Shen Cheng would stay with him, but the moment Su Jinli said he was going to sleep, Shen Cheng practically fled. He couldn't be kept.
An Zhiyan glanced at Jiang Pingqiu, and seeing his slight surprise, he knew that the people he'd assigned to watch hadn't seen Shen Cheng leave.
It appears Shen Cheng knows some sort of magic. He can appear and disappear suddenly?
This was distressing. What if in the future, when he was with Su Jinli, and Shen Cheng pops up out of nowhere? Wouldn't that scare impotence into him?
Lily, unaware of the situation, saw Su Jinli had arrived and began to instruct him on today's tasks.
She asked Su Jinli to stop changing makeup. During the daytime rehearsal, he should wear the ancient costume for both songs. After Su Jinli sings the first song, he must quickly return to the makeup room for a change.
Their task was especially difficult for the stylist since Su Jinli would need to change his facial makeup in a very short amount of time.
For the first round of the competition, Su Jinli was the first to go on stage; after him, there would be 14 contestants, and in between, there was an interactive segment, by which time Su Jinli should appear again.
After that, he would be the first to perform again, singing his second song of the day.
Su Jinli listened intently and then nodded: "This will be a tough job for Sister Li."
"Hmm... Hmm..." Lily responded casually, unsure of what to say about being addressed as Sister Li.
While helping An Zhiyan with his styling, Lily couldn't help but comment on Su Jinli's skin: "Your skin is indeed smoother than this old man's. You've been in the industry for so many years, and yet your condition is like this. When I arrived today, his eyes were dull and swollen, as if he had cried all night."
Su Jinli looked towards An Zhiyan, only to see him glaring at Lily.
When Jiang Pingqiu and Lily went to pick up their belongings, Su Jinli hesitantly said to An Zhiyan, "Xiao Jingzhi, I think I can't be with you anymore."
"Your brother forbid it?"
"Yes."
"That's not surprising."
"And also… I don't like you."
"Did your brother tell you not to like me?"
"Not really, I thought about it all night, from our encounter to now, you're someone I'm profoundly grateful to, and I also think that you're a great person. But it doesn't mean that because you're good to me, I will like you. I believe in being responsible in a relationship. Being with you while not being fond of you enough would be unfair to you."
Su Jinli knew well that during the last company contract issue, Shen Cheng was initially very firm. But when he insisted, Shen Cheng conceded.
If he genuinely liked An Zhiyan and wanted to be with him, Shen Cheng might gradually come around. But since Su Jinli didn't like An Zhiyan, Shen Cheng, from a brother's protective instincts, would oppose their relationship, especially because, in Shen Cheng’s eyes, An Zhiyan was someone of "inappropriate morals."
"You're not surprising me either," sighed An Zhiyan.
How many times had he been rejected now...
"Then I…" Su Jinli pointed towards the door, wanting to leave.
"Let's have breakfast together later; Lily has bought a lot of delicious food."
As expected, Su Jinli remained standing there, not preparing to leave anymore.
"That… what I said last night might have been a bit too much, sorry," An Zhiyan suddenly apologized.
"Huh? What did you say?" Su Jinli didn't give it any mind.
"It's nothing."
After having breakfast, An Zhiyan parted ways with Su Jinli.
An Zhiyan had to spend the whole day preparing his own script and remarks. Having taken up the host's duties, he couldn't perform poorly; and he did indeed put a lot of effort into it.
Su Jinli went off to put on makeup, then returned to the venue to rehearse again, preparing for the evening's performance.
By 6 PM, the audience had started coming in, creating a bustle. Signs bearing names were raised, but since it wasn't entirely dark yet, they weren't that noticeable.
Since Su Jinli was the first to appear, he stood at the side of the stage prepared and heard staff say, "It looks like it's going to rain. The program group is giving raincoats to the audience entering the venue."
"We have dancing segments. Try not to slip or something."
"Outdoor venues have this downside."
Surprised, Su Jinli looked at them, a momentary panic washing over him.
He looked up at the sky, indeed, a sign of impending rain. He involuntarily clenched his fists.
His magic was weak, being in the mortal world brought such troubles. If it rained, it would be a disaster for him.
After a while, An Zhiyan came by his side, squeezing his shoulder, "I'm going onstage."
"Is it 7 PM already?"
"Yes, you should get on the platform too."
Su Jinli nodded and climbed onto the platform.
An Zhiyan watched until Su Jinli had all his safety measures in place before getting on the stage.
After An Zhiyan took the stage, Su Jinli could clearly sense the atmosphere on site change;, the earth-shattering cheers of the crowd seemed to hit him like crashing waves.
As he prepared up top, his view was obstructed and he couldn't see much, but from his position closest to the scene, he could feel the awe-inspiring power of 3,300 spectators.
"Today is the fourth performance of 'National Idol.' If you include the festival time, it can be considered the fifth performance. Although it's not my first time hosting live, I'm still very excited, especially seeing more and more fans of these contestants. Watching them grow step by step brings immense satisfaction to my heart."
After An Zhiyan took the stage, he began today's opening speech, then introduced Su Jinli's number.
"The next contestant to take the stage was the first place winner in the last round."
As soon as he said this, the audience burst into cheers.
After a pause, An Zhiyan continued to say, "This round's song is particularly challenging. It's a song expanded based on Su Jinli's practice singing tune, and Su Jinli wrote the lyrics himself. Moreover, his performance is distinctive. Let's welcome —— Su Jinli!"
After finishing his words, An Zhiyan left the stage.
The stage lights dimmed, with only a faint glow lingering above, eventually gathering at one spot.
Su Jinli's swing descended, slowly swinging back and forth, as he played the flute.
The melodious flute music echoed throughout the venue, presenting a stark contrast between a well-behaved young man and one who was breathtakingly cold in appearance, his eyes full of indifference. Coupled with his makeup, he had a somewhat enchanting, destructive feel.
The audience seemed to love this appearance, and they immediately began to scream.
Then, Su Jinli took a leap with his flute and landed steadily on the stage.
As soon as he began to sing, his beautiful voice could be heard.
________________________
Author's Note:
About the lyrics... please use your imagination since I can't come up with them.
Hey! Juliet!
Hey! Romeo!
【Little Ungrateful Drama Theater】
Before getting together:
Su Jinli: Brother, I'll listen to you in everything.
Shen Cheng: Good boy.
After getting together:
Su Jinli: Brother, if you bully my husband again, I won't talk to you anymore!
Shen Cheng: !!!
Later:
Shen Cheng, frantically making a phone call: When are you coming home?
Su Jinli: Brother, I'm watching a movie with my husband!
Shen Cheng: Who was the one who said they missed me and came down the mountain to find me?
Su Jinli: Brother, why don't you get a girlfriend?
Shen Cheng: ...
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