CH 4

Chapter 4: Want me to bring him? Maybe in the next life.

Walking over the soft and thick carpet and past the corridor, the clamor of the annual party had been cut off.

“If this works out, you could be on a variety show.” Huang Qian said excitedly, “Its ratings are very high.”

Xu Tangzhou became even more puzzled: “I don’t even have any works and I could be on a variety show?”

Huang Qian rubbed his hands: “Don’t worry, you already have a very good exposure rate. Besides, as long as that person is there, you can go even if you are an amateur. It’s exactly what the program is looking for.”

Xu Tangzhou suddenly had a lightbulb moment and thought of something. He took a step back and honestly stated: “Huang ge, I seemed to have forgotten to tell you, I will firmly refuse any unspoken rules or anything obscene.”

Huang Qian: “......”

Huang Qian: “Stop imagining! Starting now, don’t be nervous and behave well!”

As soon as he finished the last word, Huang Qian pushed open a hidden door.

Once the door opened, Xu Tangzhou was caught off guard as he was pushed forward and appeared at the doorway.

The people who were talking in the room all looked at him.

Except for one–

The floor in front of the sofa almost couldn’t accommodate the long legs of the man who sat on the soft leather sofa in front of the French windows. The overbearing Alpha scent directly spread from his body. Once Xu Tangzhou came into contact with it, his mind went blank, overwhelmed by the pheromones on the spot.

Scorching sun, the S-level pheromone exclusive to Ling Che. It’s an abstract-class Alpha pheromone rarely found in the world.

The radio host’s ridicule faintly echoed within his mind, Xu Tangzhou thought without restraint, no wonder there’s no Omegas around this person… simply experiencing it, this powerful pheromone is enough to make any unmarked Omega’s legs turn soft.

Upon hearing the sound of the door opening, Ling Che slowly turned his head, looking over expressionlessly.

And Xu Tangzhou was watching him.

The gazes of the two people collided. It seemed as if everything went silent for a moment.

The French windows displayed the city's nightscape. The sky seemed to have turned completely dark a long time ago.

Ling Che’s back faced that field of bright lights, just like those countless times he appeared at the center of the stage being shrouded by the fluorescent lights. Just like stars surrounding the moon*, distant yet real.

(*TN: 众星拱月 “zhòng xīng gǒng yuè” is a Chinese idiom for many things surrounding one thing, although Zaizai uses it here as the literal meaning)

Xu Tangzhou’s heart began to beat wildly, with a crazy voice screaming in disbelief: AHHH IT’S LING CHE IN THE FLESH!!!

Ling Che’s indifferent eyes turned dark brown under the illumination of the night lights, without a trace of emotion.

Because of his heritage, his eyebrows were pronounced, his nose was raised and straight with a sense of lazy yet noble elegance. Unlike the other artists at the annual party who wore fancy attire, Ling Che’s hair was messy, and he wore an oversized black hoodie. The only jewelry he had on was the decorative ring on his long and thin finger.

Judging by his attire, Ling Che truly didn’t want to properly attend the annual party. He was unique and unrestrained.

He was suddenly reminded that this superstar with thousands of gazes on him was only 26 years old this year.

So Ling Che is like this in private!

Xu Tangzhou internally exclaimed.

So the person Huang ge mentioned who would bring him to attend a variety show was Ling Che? AHHHHHH HE’S SO HOT*!!!

(TN: TLDR, 我可以 is used to say “I like it a lot”, I’m tweaking its usage here a bit cuz any fan, if faced with their idol, would not just say “I like him!!!”)

For a short few seconds, the atmosphere in the room seemed to come to a stop.

Huang Qian glanced at Xu Tangzhou. Not good, it’s a dim corridor.

Xu Tangzhou’s fine eyebrows looked completely indifferent as if they were frozen over by a layer of ice. It was very characteristic of him, even though Huang Qian knew he was definitely screaming on the inside right now.

"..." Huang Qian was speechless. Next time, he had to make Xu Tangzhou study expression management seriously.

Once this child got serious, it wasn’t a good thing that he looked too cold. When they first met, Huang Qian was fooled by the serious Xu Tangzhou. Who knew the faster a persona was constructed, the faster it fell.

“Coming, coming.” He quickly introduced everyone, “Ya jie, this is our Zhouzhou. Zhouzhou, this is Situ Ya, also known as Ya jie, a top-tier agent. And this is Xiao An, the company’s top-tier assistant.”

Xiao An was embarrassed by his words: “Not at all.”

Huang Qian smiled kindly: “I don’t need to introduce the other one. Didn’t you keep asking me if Ling Che would come today? The person is there, and you still didn’t greet him?”

Xu Tangzhou still hasn’t digested the fact of “meeting the living Ling Che”.

His earlobes inconspicuously flushed red. As if waking from a long dream, he said: “H-hello everyone.”

Facing Ling Che’s gaze, Xu Tangzhou followed Huang Qiang into the room and politely shook hands with Situ Ya and Xiao An.

When it came time to shake hands with Ling Che, Xu Tangzhou’s palm was full of sweat. When he finally calmed down, he introduced himself again: “Hello Che shen*. It’s our first time meeting, my name is Xu Tangzhou.”

(*TN: Shen 神 literally means god, but also for people you would highly revere, I’m keeping the pinyin throughout.)

Huang Qian chimed in: “Zhouzhou likes you a lot. He even mentioned you in his live broadcast last night and fought against black fans*.”

(*TN: a reminder that black fans are antis)

Xiao An raised his hand: “Right, I also watched it!”

Xu Tangzhou’s hand was extended in midair.

His fair skin blinded the eyes, and his blood vessels could clearly be seen on the back of his hand. Beautifully flawless, just like the person himself. He was like a fine piece of porcelain, easily broken at the touch of a feather.

Ling Che did not speak.

He ignored that hand, not wanting to shake hands at all.

“Ling Che?” Situ Ya still thought he was angry and tactfully said, “We agreed that you would bring the new person.”

Huang Qian didn’t understand, only thinking that Ling Che disliked Xu Tangzhou’s appearance because it was too cold, so he tried to smooth things over: “Well, although our Zhouzhou looks like a cold beauty, he’s naturally very simple. Really. He hadn’t even fallen in love yet and he’s very easy to get along with.”

Xu Tangzhou: “???” Does he not want face?

(TN: Reminder that face = outside reputation, which is a big part of the Chinese identity)

With such a strange introduction, what kind of service did the agent secretly want to sell?!

Upon hearing this sentence, Ling Che finally looked up at the person standing in front of him.

Only then did he notice Xu Tangzhou’s choker.

The translucent lace choker was wrapped around the elegantly curved neck. It carefully covered the glands with a hint of abstinence, but it clearly gives a reminder that the owner of the choker is a sweet, tasty, and unmarried Omega.

In only a few years, Xu Tangzhou has already grown to what he’s like today.

Facing him, not only did he act as flawlessly as the first time they had met, but he also dared to shamelessly lie to the company.

Ling Che coldly spoke: “Want me to bring him? Maybe in the next life.”

Xu Tangzhou retracted his hand in shock. The red on his ears spread to his face until the entirety of his cold face was flushed scarlet.

“......”

What’s going on?

Huang Qian’s smile froze on his face, and Xiao An’s mouth opened into a small O shape.

Without waiting for Situ Ya to speak, Ling Che ruthlessly added: “I particularly don’t like this one.”

(TN: The way Ling Che speaks sounds like Zhouzhou is a product)

Huang Qian hurriedly interjected: “That’s because you don’t understand him. If you two meet some more, you’ll know that our Zhouzhou—”

“Do you know him?” Ling Che said to Huang Qian while his eyes remained on Xu Tangzhou, “I dare say, even you don’t completely understand this artist.”

With an empty expression, Ling Che did not reveal any negative emotions of disdain or disgust.

But Xu Tangzhou felt that being looked upon like this, his burning gaze would almost burn a hole through him. At that moment, he realized that he was nothing in front of the other person. He was just an insignificant opportunist, only waiting to be promoted.

To tell the truth, it’s not difficult for Xu Tangzhou to understand this type of thinking, but Ling Che was far too different from what he had imagined.

Because he didn’t like a certain type of person, he would say the same of others, which is rude and arrogant behavior.

Ling Che himself is as arrogant and rebellious as his aura.

The embarrassment on Xu Tangzhou's face slowly faded, and he just looked at Ling Che without saying anything.

Ling Che looked away.

Upon looking at the situation, Situ Ya took a step forward: “What are you doing? Work isn’t going on a blind date and you still want to pick and choose? We agreed earlier, you’d only bring a new person!”

They were all well aware of the true reason behind bringing a new person, including Huang Qian. Bringing a new person was just an additional condition, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it a facade.

The chance for a win-win situation was in sight.

“You only said to bring them here for me to look at.” Ling Che interrupted her, his pleasant voice with an air of frivolousness dully replied, “I’ve seen him. My answer is no.”

After speaking, Ling Che ignored the people in the room and covered his face with the cap to take a nap.

This was at most the behavior of a three-year-old.

The room was quiet for a while.

While everyone didn’t know what to do, Ling Che coldly said: “Leave.”

This sentence was addressed to Huang Qian and the others.

No matter how good his temper was, Huang Qian was an agent who would still side with his own artist. He immediately took Xu Tangzhou away with Situ Ya quickly following to give an explanation.

After sending the others away, Situ Ya couldn’t hold back anymore and angrily took off Ling Che’s cap. Looking at his wide-awake face, she said: “So what’s the reason! What aspect of him is not good? Give me an explanation.”

Ling Che was not in a rush, gently took back the cap, and placed it on his face.

He said: “What a coincidence, you found my ex-boyfriend. Thanks a lot.”

*

At the end of the annual party, the company had a lottery.

Xu Tang Zhou didn’t succeed in obtaining the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity mentioned by Huang Qian, nor did he win the prize as he had hoped. His birthday did not seem to have a tiny bit of luck with everything going wrong.

In the end, Huang Qian was only a small agent. He could only comfort him for a while, saying that there would be many opportunities in the future so he shouldn’t let his mood be affected by this incident.

Xu Tangzhou listened for a bit and heaved a deep sigh: “I spoke too big. My face is going to be hit*. Is it too late if I get plastic surgery and change my name now?”

(TN: “hitting/slapping the face” is when you say something, but the opposite happens. A reminder that family, reputation/face, and name are very important to Chinese people)

During his live broadcast, there were at least one to two thousand people listening to his brazen words. Now that his words have been flipped, his face really hurt.

Huang Qian: “......”

He thought Xu Tangzhou was heartbroken, but he didn't expect that Xu Tangzhou was worried about this. He really couldn't understand young people!

Was face as important as opportunities?!

“Taking it off well is not as good as taking it off early.” Xu Tangzhou said to himself, “Taking it off early is better than taking it off later.”

Lu Jia saw Xu Tangzhou and heard this sentence as he walked over. He was wide-eyed: “What are you taking off?”

Xu Tangzhou heaved another sigh in distraught: “Taking off being a fan.”

(TN: “tuo fen” 脱粉 literally means “to take off powder”, but it means to stop being a fan. To keep the humor, I kept as is)

After the annual party, no one knew who leaked the news that Ling Che came, but there were hordes of reporters outside Fisher Hotel. Each time a car left, it would be held back to be interviewed and photographed. Not even calling the police was helpful. Later, the upper management said for safety and privacy considerations, everyone would be staying in the hotel that night.

The rooms they booked weren’t enough to accommodate everyone, and Xu Tangzhou was not familiar with anyone. Fortunately, Lu Jia offered to share a room with him.

Lu Jia was a little drunk and laid on the bed the moment he entered the room.

After Xu Tangzhou took a shower, he was still lying on his stomach. It seems he was very drunk.

"It's so uncomfortable..." the rims of Lu Jia's eyes were red from the alcohol, "I want to take a bath."

Xu Tangzhou was very experienced and proficient at dealing with drunk people: “You can’t take a bath now. I’ll call room service and ask them to bring some hangover medicine.”

Lu Jia shook his head: “There are paparazzi. I-I brought some… in the bag.”

Xu Tangzhou looked all over, but didn’t find the bag: “It's not here, where did you put your bag?"

Lu Jia dazedly said: “Dressing room.”

After speaking, Lu Jia didn’t say another word.

The small banquet hall that was temporarily changed into a dressing room was not far away. Xu Tangzhou returned with the bag, only to find the door has been locked. Lu Jia couldn’t hear him no matter how he spoke. He probably fell fast asleep.

“......”

Xu Tangzhou was petrified on the spot.

He didn’t grab his room key or cell phone, and he only wore a bathrobe after his shower.

Really unlucky.

(TN: 水逆 = 水星逆行 = TLDR: really unlucky because it’s believed seeing Mercury’s orbit reverse causes problems)

Going downstairs was not an option, no one knows who he’d meet in the elevator.

Fortunately, his brain reacted quickly. The people who lived on this floor were all Xing Jing’s people. He could just ask someone from another room to borrow their phone and call the front desk to get a room key for opening his door.

He never would’ve imagined that when he knocked on the opposite door, the person who opened the door was Ling Che.

“It’s you.” Upon seeing him, Ling Che’s eyes looked impatient, “What do you want to do?”

Shortly afterward, Ling Che frowned.

Xu Tangzhou seemed to have just taken a bath, whiffs of steam emitting from his skin.

He only wore a loose bathrobe to cover his body. His fair chest and clavicle could be faintly seen, as well as an exposed pair of straight legs from under the bathrobe.

The author has something to say:

Ling Che: Who the hell can handle this?

TN: I think it’s a bit late to mention this now, but I’ll be keeping some Chinese terms as pinyin

“ge” (older brother, could be used as a respectful address for acquaintances)

“jie” (older sister, could be used as a respectful address for acquaintances as well)

“Shen” (literally: god, but mainly for a highly respected and revered figure)

See glossary for more info.