CH 6

As his tongue rolled away the chocolate, it gently licked up Ou Shaowen’s fingertips, leaving a warm, wet touch.

If it had been Qi Shuyang, they would have exchanged a kiss by now.

But Ou Shaowen calmly withdrew his fingers, and this time he picked up a chocolate with peace of mind and delivered it to his own mouth, unaware of the flirtation.

Ou Renjin stopped the movement he started and gave him a deep look. It was true that there was no such thing as a perfect lover for him; the sophisticated ones were too boring for him, and the simple ones were too dull.

Worried that Ou Shaowen was not used to Western food, he was going to a Chinese restaurant today, upscale but not very private. The location of this restaurant happened to be between two entertainment companies, so there were often stars coming over for dinner. When Ou Renjin got out of the car, he held Ou Shaowen’s hand and led him all the way in.

While sitting down, he heard a very slight click. With this sound, he turned his head and smiled at Ou Shaowen, “What would you like to eat?”

Ou Shaowen took the menu that was pushed in front of him, looked at it for a while, and raised his head blankly.

“Forget it, it’s better for me to order.” Taking the menu away, Ou Renjin stroked his head in a natural and skillful manner.

Ou Shaowen let him do it, but never took the initiative, and as long as Ou Renjin didn’t say anything, he could stay quiet for a long time. After they finished their meal without much communication, Ou Renjin ordered two cups of tea and got up from the seat opposite to sit next to Ou Shaowen. He leaned close to Ou Shaowen’s face, breathing in the scent of the perfume he had sprayed onto the young man himself not long ago, and kissed his earlobe. 

“Do you know what this means?” He asked.

Ou Shaowen raised his eyebrows.

“Do you find it amusing or annoying when I do this to you?”

Ou Shaowen touched his kissed earlobe and looked at him with some confusion.

Ou Renjin took his hand that was touching his earlobe, pulled it over and kissed the fingertips, smiling, “How about this, would you hate it?”

Ou Shaowen figured out the emotions in his heart for a while. “I don’t hate it, I’m very comfortable.”

It was the kind of feeling that seemed to be like being cherished by someone.

Ou Renjin laughed out loud happily. He lowered his head and pressed Ou Shaowen’s hand to his lips, adjusted the expression on his face and continued playing the affectionate scenes.

“Then you can kiss me too.”

Ou Shaowen hesitated for a moment, leaned over and dropped a kiss on his cheek.

“So good.” Ou Renjin felt like he was… was teaching a puppy that didn’t know the world. He narrowed his eyes, his expression somewhat pleased.

Ou Shaowen looked at him for a long time and pronounced a sentence, “You like to say that I’m good.”

In the past, he unconditionally cooperated with all the surgeries of the laboratory on his body, and he had never been praised for being good.

Before Ou Renjin had time to respond, he heard Ou Shaowen continue, “You’re easily satisfied.”

It was clear that he had done nothing, yet Ou Renjin always looked very satisfied. He would speak softly to him, he would soothe him, he would smile at him, he would give him gifts over and over again. It seemed that all he had to do was accept his gifts and listen to him quietly, and he was already happy enough.

Ou Renjin almost thought their roles had flipped, “Easily satisfied?”

He kind of didn’t believe that Ou Shaowen was addressing him with such a comment. His expression darkened slightly, “Maybe because you’re so simple, you see everyone else as simple too. I’m not easily satisfied.

“It’s time to go back.” He stood up, and after a pause, extended his hand to Ou Shaowen.

Ou Shaowen took it.

There was news about Ou Renjin’s new love, and several media published it online even without waiting for the next day.

This time it was not only illustrated, but some media directly made it into a video, showing two men holding hands and sitting sweetly in the restaurant, kissing each other and whispering to each other intimately. The media even followed them on the drive back until they saw the villa that seemed to have been given a special meaning.

The video focused on repeating every intimate detail of their time together, with the ambiguous commentary of the reporter. They kissed each other’s faces on camera, and the netizens seemed to be able to imagine a tumultuous bed scene.

This time, Ou Renjin’s romance announcement was even more sensational than last time, and Ou Shaowen’s overly delicate face played a big part in that.

“This Fifth Aunt is a little too handsome, I don’t even know who to envy for a moment.” (It’s not quite the same “Aunt” as in “Aunt Zhou”  Netizens refer to Ou Renjin’s lovers as “Aunts” the way juniors used to refer to the head of the family’s concubines as “Aunts” (coming from the idea that all women in the harem are like sisters), also meaning “mistress” now.)

“…a good, good match.”

“Both of them are too similar in body shape and dressing style, right? I can’t believe I can’t tell who is who by looking at the back.”

“Where on earth did Ou Renjin find these hidden gems, one by one, they’re all too fresh, right?”

“Fifth Aunt has the highest face value among all Ou Renjin’s Aunts, no need to discuss it.”

“Hey, this time Ou Renjin’s taste is subtly different, ah. It’s amazing that there’s no body type difference anymore. Although it feels like you’re the other me, it’s pretty good.”

“Geez, Ou Renjin, hurry up and throw an idol drama resource at him for the benefit of the audience.”

Ou Renjin had come out of the closet with a bang, and was a talented and wealthy young man. His aura was so dazzling that he had won a large number of fans early on in the circle of rotten girls where beauty was the first priority. Moreover, he had always acted in an unrestrained manner, putting every relationship on the table without hiding it, and taking each partner to formal occasions for people to watch and comment on.

He didn’t mix in the entertainment industry and didn’t care about the opinions of netizens and fans, but he always got the most attention and discussion, and his popularity was never lower than that of any artist of his company.

Therefore, when you were with Ou Renjin, not only would you get quality resources, you would also naturally become the focus of attention, which was always one of the fastest ways for newcomers to the entertainment industry to rise.

On the second day of the news fermentation, an invitation for the inside page of a second-tier magazine was sent to Ou Shaowen. This was not even arranged or signalled by Ou Renjin.

Ou Renjin listened to Guan Qijun with a blank face and turned a page of the documents in his hand, “You can just pass these invitations directly to Ou Shaowen to decide for himself whether to go or not.”

“But President Ou, wouldn’t it be inappropriate for Ou Shaowen to be exposed to the entertainment industry? After all, he is not quite the same as the ones you have raised before.”

Ou Renjin understood what Guan Qijun meant. The surface of the entertainment industry always looked shiny and bright, but inside it always hid dirt. Ou Shaowen was different from those who were originally ready to enter the entertainment industry, he was ignorant and did not have a clear understanding of many things in the world yet. If he were to be pushed onto the stage, with his qualities, there would definitely be many people who would genuinely love him without asking anything in return; and equally, there would definitely be people who would hate him and detest him without a second thought. He could not and did not want to protect Ou Shaowen to the last little thing; people were independent individuals after all, and all the sweetness and bitterness needed to be borne by oneself.

“You still have the mind to worry about this for him. I thought you were planning to cut out his heart tomorrow?” Ou Renjin glanced at Guan Qinjun lightly, his tone sarcastic.

Guan Qijun lowered his head and pursed his lips without saying anything. He knew that Ou Renjin was not someone who was bent on making every decision when business matters were concerned. He trusted the abilities of his subordinates enough, and if his idea was opposed by everyone and he could not convince everyone with his own views, he would think that the idea was too forward and unique, perhaps not quite suitable for the general mediocre audience, and give up on it decisively. Of course, it was rare that his ideas were opposed by everyone.

Perhaps it was precisely because of these disputes, persuasions and tug-of-war in the management of the company that in dealing with his own private affairs, Ou Renjin didn’t like to listen to anyone’s suggestions and didn’t explain himself to anyone. At the same time, he also hated the interference and control of others the most.

Guan Qinjun had been with Ou Renjin for many years and although he knew Ou Renjin’s nature well, he couldn’t help but cross the line. He couldn’t help but want to interfere and control. Sometimes, for the sake of his years of service, although President Ou was displeased, he would only verbally reprimand him; and over time, Guan Qinjun became more and more daring.

But this time, he thought about President Ou’s paper-white face when he had an attack last time. No matter how angry President Ou would be, Guan Qijun still… still didn’t want to just give up.

“He won’t be a nobody based on his looks alone. If… he proceeds according to your usual style, he will soon be famous and loved by millions, and all the big and small things will be put in the spotlight. If you want to follow the policy of appeasement (offering favours to win someone), it will be of less value than anticipated. At that time, he won’t stay by your side for a long time.”

“So in your mind, I have to use the policy of appeasement to keep someone?” Ou Renjin raised his eyebrows, his tone unconcerned, “Besides, who told you how long I expect him to stay by my side?”

Guan Qijun was silent for a moment and nodded quietly, “Yes, I see.”

He obeyed Ou Renjin’s instructions, and after taking care of some chores at hand, took the printed out invitation letter to the villa.

“So, you can go if you want to or not, President Ou said to let you decide for yourself.”

Ou Shaowen listened to him quietly and read the invitation in his hand from beginning to end twice more, then raised his head and looked at Guan Qijun with puzzled eyes. 

Guan Qijun sighed and re-explained, “You’ve never been in touch with the entertainment industry before, you may not quite understand. Wait for a while.”

He went upstairs and brought down an entertainment magazine from the study, flipped through its pages and handed it to Ou Shaowen, “These are called models. Magazines invite them to take pictures and publish them, using their appearance, performance, or popularity to attract attention. You were photographed last time you went out with President Ou, there was a big discussion, and your looks are superior, so the magazine wants to invite you to do a photo shoot for them. It’s a job and you’ll be paid.”

“Last time we were photographed?” Guan Qijun’s explanation made Ou Shaowen even more puzzled.

Guan Qijun was startled. Although he heard President Ou mention that Ou Shaowen was not as mute as they thought, he was still a little surprised when he heard this voice for the first time. Ou Shaowen’s voice matched his face very well, and it seemed that every part of him was perfect.

After a moment’s pause, Guan Qijun took out his phone and found the previous article about Ou Renjin having a new love. “President Ou has a certain popularity in the entertainment industry, so you will be equally noticed when you go out with him. It’s normal for magazines to want to use you to piggyback on President Ou’s popularity.”

Ou Shaowen’s gaze sharpened when he saw the description of “nurturing” in the report, and his brow furrowed slightly. After a while, he raised his head and said, “Let me think about it first, can I?”

His brain was in a mess, and he felt that things were a bit different from what he had imagined.