CH 71

Chapter 71 – The Proposition Is You

If there are two people, it can’t count as missing out on each other.

Looking at Fang Juexia’s clean eyes, the corners of Pei Tingsong’s mouth rose and he couldn’t help stretching out a hand to rub his head. The expression on his face was a little cocky but also a little childish. “Then I’ll be the second smallest uninteresting natural number ba.”

“Then you’ll be a little more uninteresting than me.”

“Don’t care, anyway, I’ll be right after you.”

Pei Tingsong had, with much care, chosen this specific point on the infinite number axis, but what he hadn’t expected was how beautiful this point truly was.

After the autograph event ended, the six people from Kaleido got into the van and prepared to return to the company. Xiao Wen sat in the driver’s seat and closed the car door, thereby shutting out the clamoring sound of the fans. “Originally, there should have been a special chauffeur today, but his child is sick, and he asked for leave, so I’ll drive for one last trip today!”

“Ah, is our chauffeur Xiao Wen going to be laid off~” Ling Yi hugged his neck from behind.

“Then, we’ll have to switch to a big car ya,” He Ziyan said.

Xiao Wen was a little surprised. “How did you know that?”

Lu Yuan laughed at his cute dazed look. “There’s one more driver, and then, if Strong Ge squeezes in as well, there won’t be enough room ah.”

“Oh, yes, yes.” Xiao Wen got rid of Ling Yi’s clutch around his neck and started the car when Cheng Qiang entered the car.

Ever since Pei Tingsong had gotten injured, Fang Juexia was always on tenterhooks, afraid of Pei Tingsong’s arm getting bumped around. They waved goodbye to their fans, drove out a little, and then got on the road. Fang Juexia kept paying attention to the road conditions and occasionally observed Xiao Wen.

He noticed that Xiao Wen kept glancing in the rearview mirror rather frequently.

“Xiao Wen, what’s the matter?”

“I don’t know if I’m seeing it wrong.” Xiao Wen frowned and said, “I always feel that there is a car following us.”

Cheng Qiang became alert, opened the window, and looked back. “The black Volkswagen?”

“Yes.” Xiao Wen felt strange. “When I came out on the road, from the beginning, it was behind me. And we’ve passed several intersections now, but it’s actually still there.”

Fang Juexia instinctively felt that there was something wrong with this situation. After he ruled out the few possibilities that were too far from the mark, he tried to guess, “Is it a stalker fan?”

Stalker fans were a very special group. Although they were called ‘fans’, their actions actually went beyond the scope of what fans should do. They would go to the extent of obtaining stars’ private numbers through improper means, crazily making harassing phone calls, or even indulging in terrible acts such as chasing and following cars, tracking them all the way to their hotels, or even installing pinhole cameras in places.

Cheng Qiang closed the car window. “Should be. Let’s take another route back to the company ba. If they’re still following, then most likely, they are stalker fans.”

The good atmosphere in the car suddenly cooled down, and Ling Yi sighed, “It’s a stalker fan again…”

Jiang Miao rubbed his head in an attempt to comfort him. 

Last year, Ling Yi had to change his phone number several times due to a stalker fan’s harassment. They would call him every day, and if he didn’t answer the phone, he would receive innumerable abusive messages, and even if he blacklisted them, they’d just get a new number and start the cycle again. At that time, Ling Yi was under great pressure, but he couldn’t come up with any good solutions to deal with it, so he just had to hide.

Clearly, they kept yelling out “Gege, Gege”, but they still did things that ordinary people couldn’t bear. 

Xiao Wen slowed down the car. At this time, they couldn’t try to get rid of these people by speeding up, that would only make things more dangerous.

“Fortunately, we don’t have another event to rush to today.” He detoured from their usual route further, but the black Volkswagen still remained behind them, seeming just like a spirit that couldn’t be shaken off. 

Pei Tingsong thought of something. “Last time I went back to school to go to class, someone followed me, but I didn’t worry about it.”

Cheng Qiang was a little agitated and wanted to smoke, but he couldn’t do it now. “It must have been a stalker fan. When you go to school in the future, we will arrange for people to protect you on the way.”

He Ziyan shook his head and said, “The security personnel can’t follow you in when you have class, it’s very troublesome.”

After detouring by a big circle to get back to the company, they quickly got out of the car. Unsurprisingly, the people in the car who had been following them before also got out. They were also young girls, and they ran to them and tried to attract their attention.

“Juexia! Can you autograph some things for us?!”

“Ziyan! Miaomiao!”

“Pei Tingsong! Wait a minute! Don’t go in yet ah!”

Cheng Qiang had already contacted the company’s staff long ago, and as soon as they got out of the car, the staff came out to surround Kaleido, separating the stalker fans from them and protecting them as they entered the company.

Even as he entered the doors of the company, Fang Juexia could still hear the voices from outside. They hadn’t succeeded, so they had already changed from their previous flattering mindset to loud abusive curses, filled with all kinds of ugly words. 

Humans were really complicated.

After entering the company, they held a simple meeting in Cheng Qiang’s office, mainly talking about some of their recent events and the new resources that had come their way.

“Recently, our reality show situation is the same as before. Xiao Pei and Juexia’s ‘Escape’ will continue to be filmed, and everyone else’s permanent guest spots are the same. Right, Yuanyuan, that supervisor for that hip-hop dance competition has already settled on you. The first episode will be recorded next Friday, so adjust your state now.”

Lu Yuan made an “okay” gesture. “Luckyyy.”

“Does Miaomiao want to try acting?” Cheng Qiang sat down and said, “There is a cutting-edge director, and although he is not well-known, the quality of his films are good. Recently, he wants to make a film related to music, in which the main character plays the guzheng. We arranged for you to audition.”

Ling Yi was more excited than Jiang Miao at this. “Wow! A movie. Oooh.”

Jiang Miao nodded. In fact, it was only because his younger sister was a big fan of movies that Jiang Miao wanted to try acting.

“And then, this Wednesday, we’ve inserted an event into your schedules, which is to take part in the filming of ‘Happy Friday’. The whole group will take part in it to promote the new album.”

“Scared me,” Pei Tingsong complained, “I thought we were really going to be doing ‘Happy Comedian’ for a second.”

“Hahahahaha!”

Fang Juexia also couldn’t help laughing as he imagined the scene in his heart— Six people standing in front of a red curtain, wearing Chinese style long frocks and pants. If they really went to that kind of event to perform cross talk, the other members would probably gabble away, but all he could probably do was just stand aside and play out the beat with bamboo clappers. 

But his beat would definitely be very accurate, because his small clock was very punctual, and he was also a little master with clappers.

“Even if you guys wanted to go, we can’t get such resources. ‘Happy Friday’ is one of the most popular variety shows in the country, and I would like to remind you all that the special guests this time are just the six of you. All of you perform well and don’t be wallflowers.”

Everyone looked at Fang Juexia, and Fang Juexia helplessly said, “With all of you there, I will talk more.”

“When it’s time for the show to air, you guys will probably gain another wave of fans.” Cheng Qiang sighed and continued, “Getting more fans is a good thing, but there are also many problems that come with it. Today’s stalker fans still count as being moderate, but the more popular you guys get, the more troublesome things will get in the future, and the more people will target you. The company will do its best to protect its artists, but you guys can’t take it lightly either, understand?”

The six people nodded as if they were children who had been lectured.

“Alright, you guys go do what you need to do ba, I’ll go have a cigarette.”

After the meeting, Ling Yi was called out for a get-together by his best friend from college. Jiang Miao also went to accompany his younger sister, who he hadn’t seen for a long time, to go shopping. Fang Juexia was originally going to stay in the company to practice, but He Ziyan and Lu Yuan pulled him to go play basketball with them. Since Pei Tingsong was injured and couldn’t play, Fang Juexia wanted to refuse, but he didn’t expect Pei Tingsong to speak in the same tone as the other two people and was determined to take part in outdoor sports. Unable to out-stubborn them, Fang Juexia could only set aside his practice plans and accompany them to play ball.

Fortunately, by the time they left the company, that group of stalker fans were already no longer there. They went back to the dormitory by car, where there was an open-air basketball court. However, since the occupancy rate of this community was very low, there were few residents staying there, and even fewer people playing basketball. After putting on some loose clothes, these big boys went down to play ball in high spirits. There weren’t enough people to have a match, so they just played around. 

Pei Tingsong had a talent for all kinds of sports, and basketball was no exception. Even if he had hurt one of his hands right now, he still dribbled and shot smoothly with one hand.

Fang Juexia had been a member of the school basketball team since he had entered middle school, and he had also been on the basketball team when he was a university student. Every game back then had drawn in a lot of onlookers. After receiving the ball from Pei Tingsong, Fang Juexiaa raised his hands from behind the three-point line, and the ball entered the basket.

“Juexia’s hands are so steady ah.” Lu Yuan sighed, “So extremely accurate.”

“He has a good psychological quality.” He Ziyan bent over to tie his shoelaces with a smile. “You try making a free throw when everyone in an entire gym is calling out your name, that pressure is so great.”

Pei Tingsong was standing in the same place, dribbling with one hand. When he heard this, he was puzzled. “What do you mean the entire gym is calling out whose name?”

He Ziyan stood up, beckoned to Pei Tingsong, who then passed the ball to him. “You don’t know ah, Juexia was the campus idol when he was in college, and he was a member of the school’s basketball team. There was a video of him playing a match in school when he was 20. That entire place was crying out ah, all for Fang Juexia.”

Lu Yuan began to imitate the scene, pitching his voice up and making all kinds of shouts. 

Fang Juexia had just unscrewed a bottle of water and taken a sip. He nearly spat it out, saying, “It wasn’t so exaggerated.”

Saying that, he made a shot, and when the ball fell through the basket, Lu Yuan took it. “You’ve even got the guts to say it wasn’t that exaggerated, I watched it, okay? They yelled out even more exaggeratedly than I just did. I’m amazed Xiao Pei actually still hasn’t seen it.”

He Ziyan joked, “Makes sense, how could the him from before have gone online to watch Juexia’s videos?”

Upon getting his sore spot stabbed, Pei Tingsong, who was broken in body, was ready in spirit to fight with He Ziyan. He Ziyan was afraid of causing problems with his injured hand, so he could only put on an act of not having the guts to provoke him. The two of them kicked up a fuss, and then after a while, they separated again. Lu Yuan went up to go play with He Ziyan while Pei Tingsong stepped out and sat next to Fang Juexia, who was sitting outside the court.

“Drink some water?” Fang Juexia looked up at him and handed him some water.

Pei Tingsong took the bottle of water but didn’t open it. He was silent for a moment, looking at the two players not far away.

“Does your hand hurt?” Fang Juexia asked.

“No, it’s pretty good.”

Fang Juexia nodded with satisfaction and turned his head. He continued to watch the people on the court playing, and seemed very immersed in it. Suddenly, he heard Pei Tingsong’s voice by his ear.

“I think it’s a pity.”

As he turned his head, the colors of the fading dusk fell on Fang Juexia’s gentle face. “What’s a pity?”

“It’s just a pity for me.” Pei Tingsong straightened his long legs and said, “Plainly speaking, I already met you two years ago, but because of my own prejudices, I always kept a distance. I feel that I have missed a lot.”

Pei Tingsong’s youthful spirit was most obvious whenever he showed his weaknesses. At this time, Fang Juexia could clearly see that Pei Tingsong was indeed a few years younger than him, and a peculiar feeling of wanting to dote on this boy in front of him welled up inside him.

“If we have to define it, we both missed each other ba. However, if there are two people, we can’t count it as missing out on each other. If we have the same ideas and the same mentality, we can always find those lost memories together.”

Fang Juexia thought of himself from before, and he also thought it was very interesting. “You were haughty towards me, and I was more like the person who held some prejudices against you. At that time, I thought, was this a spoiled young master who had come here? I especially didn’t want to acknowledge you at that time, I thought it was a waste of time to do so.”

As he talked, he started to laugh, “And you were also an airborne member at that time. You came in like it was nothing, but it had taken me so long to even have a difficult debut. No matter how I thought about it, I would feel a little emotional. Only later did I discover that you are much better than I expected, though still a little bit odious.”

He made a gesture to show how little, then looked at Pei Tingsong, reaching out and adjusting his slightly crooked hair band. “But genius has a special license.”

Seeing him like this, Pei Tingsong thought of his own childhood. Because it was so lonely, he had really envied his peers who had elder brothers. They had someone to accompany them to play games, play ball, and swim with them. 

He became even greedier. He didn’t think of the missed past two years any longer, instead thinking that it would have been better if he had known Fang Juexia since his childhood. He was such an angular stone, but maybe if he had been wrapped in tenderness, he could have become a real pearl.

Suddenly, he thought of that small detail from the autograph event, and Pei Tingsong asked, “Hey, do you really like mature people?” Just having said that, he specially added two words, “Before now.”

Fang Juexia bent his leg and placed it on the steps they were sitting on, winding his arms around his knees and leaning his head against them. Upon hearing Pei Tingsong’s sudden question, he was stunned at first, then looked at him sideways. A soft smile appeared on this usually cold face. “What do you think?”

Pei Tingsong went by the facts and said, “I hope it’s false. But if it’s true, I’ll work hard to become more mature.”

Fang Juexia’s eyebrows and eyes gently bent, and then he shook his head. “No need.”

He Ziyan called out to Fang Juexia from a distance. He raised his head and caught the ball the other person had thrown over so rashly. “Be careful ah, there’s a wounded person here.” Saying that, he stood up and prepared to walk towards Lu Yuan and He Ziyan. However, before he left, he stood under the disappearing light from the sky and said to Pei Tingsong, “I didn’t know what kind of person I liked before. In order to deal with the question, I very casually stated some conditions. In fact, they were all false propositions. But now…”

Fang Juexia glanced at Pei Tingsong and very slightly raised his eyebrows.

“You are the proposition itself. If you really want to know the conditions, use yourself to derive them ba.”