CH 1

I don’t have time to play these sex scandal games with you

“Was it you who was photographed yesterday night in City B?”

“How long have you two been together?”

“All your fans say they don’t believe it, what does your lover think about your relationship being exposed?”

……

One minute before, countless news reporters carried their weapons of warfare1 and squatted in the airport of City A.

Once they saw Ren Qinming appear with a pair of black sunglasses, everyone began to flock forward, and the sound of their shutters could be heard in an endless stream. They argued over each other to toss out the questions they prepared earlier, wanting to push their own microphone towards the center of the crowd.

“People have said your lover is your high school classmate, is that true?”

“Were you scared you were going to lose fans which is why you haven’t announced your relationship?”

“The photograph in the explosive allegation was a bit blurry, but some netizens have guessed based on the view from the back that your lover might be a man, is it convenient for you to reveal their gender?”

Regarding these questions, everyone has been continuously arguing since the photo of Ren Qinming kissing someone was exposed on Weibo2 last night.

Now that the party involved appeared for the first time, it was as if he was a drop of water that fell into a pot of hot oil, like a small stone that was able to create thousands of waves. The reporters asked their questions one after another, blocking up the lounge of the airport like an impenetrable wall.

The assistant squeezed in between the microphones at the risk of his life, and helped Ren Qinming clear the way: “Trouble everyone to move aside. This is a public area, please don’t affect the normal order of the airport……”

But he was merely a lowly worker, and his voice was quickly drowned out by the clamor of this group of people, and everyone kept squeezing in.

After all, as long as they were able to capture anything that came out of Ren Qinming’s mouth, then one quarter of their KPI3 would be complete, and it would even be possible to get promoted or have their salary raised. So if it were you, would you get out of the way?

The reporters pushing, their collisions, and the flashing and clicking of the shutters of their cameras crazily swayed about in one’s retinas.

There were three layers of paparazzi inside, followed by three layers of bystanders on the outside, and the airport security guards quickly ran over to maintain order.

Ren Qinming, who found himself in the eye of the storm, unexpectedly seemed to find all this a matter of no concern to himself, and there was not even the slightest bit of expression on his frigid face. The thin lips under his black sunglasses were sharp, and his height of 187cm was outstanding amongst the crowd.

He gazed fixedly, and was simply focused on walking forward with his long legs, not even giving the cameras a side eye.

The reporters had been hanging around for an entire afternoon, but even until the man was escorted by the last bodyguard into his car, they hadn’t heard even half a word from his mouth.

Meanwhile the entire process of him being surrounded, chased and intercepted, while he refrained from divulging anything, was recorded into short videos by passersby as well as the media, and posted onto Weibo.

Trending Search [Ren Qinming’s First Appearance at the Airport]

The hot search had responses criticizing the paparazzi for invading others’ privacy, as well as those who were just following the gossip. But most responses were still the cries of fans.

For many actors, not to mention dating, but even getting married and having children was normal, but Ren Qinming was clearly not included in the ‘normal’ category.

At the age of only 26, the currently popular film emperor was not only the best performer amongst the currently trending stars, but also held the most sway amongst those in power.

From his obscure and unknown debut, to his sudden breakout success of single-handedly sweeping the awards at the film festival, it only took three years.

Relying on his superb acting skills as well as that heaven-sent face, he attracted countless fans, with an extensive public reputation for his professional skills. His natural fit for flashbulb photography has long been a guarantee for the box office.

But turns out such a man at the peak of his career who was never the topic of any sex scandal, turned into one who ‘entered the mundane world’ overnight — the nation’s husband, Ren Qinming got drunk at a bar, was photographed on the streets of City B hugging and kissing someone, and was exposed to be suspected in a relationship.

The fans directly expressed their extreme heartbreak and sorrow on Weibo and their tears could fill the Pacific Ocean. Not one person was willing to accept the fact that Ren Qinming was dating.

[Gege4 usually doesn’t even look at pretty girls, how could he be dating! 155515]

[A treasure with this level of attractiveness should be the public goods of all of mankind, this fan doesn’t believe there’s anyone who can match my ge, 5556]

[Just these few blurry photos, you can’t even tell where they kissed. These marketing accounts should be careful of piggybacking on other’s success for a moment of fame. You’ll face legal action and be sent to the crematorium. My ge is never soft-hearted when filing a lawsuit against those who start rumors, QAQ]

[It doesn’t matter if it’s a girl/boy, just come out and clarify that it’s a misunderstanding, I’m begging you, we definitely won’t yell at you, wu wu wu]

After saying all this, it seems all of Weibo was on the hunt for the person that had been bear-hugged by the film emperor and kissed in his arms.

Chen Yan held his phone with both hands and watched the news with keen interest. He turned around to lean against the vanity table in the bathroom of the office while facing the person next to him to ridicule: “Ren Qinming’s relationship is estimated to cause even my five year old niece to be heartbroken and devastated for a period of time.”

Ruan Song bent over to pick up a handful of cold water to splash against his red face, completely disregarding the conversation: “Did you bring the stomach medicine?”

Chen Yan: “Of course.”

In order to pick up a new project today, Ruan Song was bitterly called upon to accompany the filmmaker to drink alcohol. He specifically ran over from his rental apartment to bring over the medicine: “Why don’t you find someone to ask around? It looks like Ren Qinming is also from B City’s Xiliu area. I’m really curious as to what kind of person he’d date.”

Ruan Song remained unmoved, and splashed the other with cold water: “Did you finish writing your book yet? All day long you’re only concerned about the lives of those whose annual income is over 10 million.”

Chen Yan and Ruan Song had met each other half a year ago after agreeing to co-rent an apartment. The two just happened to be in the same profession, and were both poor screenwriters who wrote scripts for other people’s grandsons.

They had many common interests, were also compatible with regards to work and rest, neither had any harmful habits and they could also share resources with each other from work. Ruan Song genuinely believed there was nothing to nitpick about with this person, except for the fact that he loved eating melons7.

And he even had a way of eating where he wanted to get to the bottom of something.

“I’m serious! Last time, wasn’t it because I asked around that I found out someone was cheating. Xiliu is such a small city, if it’s not a friend, it’s a friend’s friend, you’ll definitely be able to find out!” Chen Yan was both tall and sturdy. He was chubby, but was a careful chubby. He not only brought stomach medicine in his bag, but also a small bottle of mineral water.

Ruan Song had just happened to take the items, when he heard the other start another tirade: “Good guys, they even found out which high school Ren Qinming went to, Xililu’s No.1 Middle High. Hurry up and see if it’s the same as your school!”

Ruan Song immediately choked on water: “……They even found that out?”

Chen Yan was very serious: “Don’t underestimate the masses’ determination to eat melons! They even found out which street this kiss happened on, Jiangming road…… Huh, why does it sound a bit familiar……”

Ruan Song swallowed the medicine while his eyebrows jumped.

Every time he went home and forgot something, it was always Chen Yan who helped send it over. It would be weirder if he didn’t find it familiar.

Ruan Song made a prompt decision, smacked the water bottle in his hand against the other’s body and said he was going to go back to the room: “Take your time thinking about it, there’s still a table of people waiting for me.”

“No, wait a minute!”

Chen Yan abruptly pulled the other’s arm, and his eating melon DNA suddenly twitched. He picked up his phone and compared it against the other’s face, opening his eyes wide, then said: “Song ah, last night didn’t you just happen to go back to Xiliu for a bit……”

At that moment, his phone screen impressively displayed the photo secretly taken by the paparazzi that broke out yesterday night.

The sky in the middle of the night was dark, the subject was far away, and there were many surrounding trees blocking the view. The faces couldn’t be seen clearly, but the other party in the photo could be seen wearing a light blue colored jean jacket and pure white jeans.

When Ruan Song came back from the high speed rail early this morning, wasn’t he wearing……

“Why don’t you stop, you ate melons until you became obsessed.”

Ruan Song raised his hand and smoothly pushed aside the other’s cell phone: “If this person were me, would I bother with drinking with these idiotic filmmakers? If I lack money, why don’t I just directly find Ren Qinming.”

Chen Yan dazedly blinked a few times, then immediately felt guilty for having his doubts, and rubbed the back of his head twice: “You’re right. Sorry brother, it’s all because I’m useless so my pockets are empty and I can’t lend you any money.”

Ruan Song crossed his arms, and pretended to magnanimously wave his hands: “If you’ve nothing to do then just kneel. Don’t bother me while I’m kissing the asses of these idiots.”

There were a lot of rich people in this circle, but there were only a few who understood the profession. If you wanted to get by, you had to rely on these idiots, and the only difference was whether they were a big idiot, or a small idiot.

Before, Ruan Song would even nitpick, but now he urgently needed money, and there was no time for him to carefully select someone. It was already pretty good if he could make some money.

“My pitiful Song.”

Chen Yan also knew his situation, and after staring at the other, he couldn’t help but embrace Ruan Song’s shoulder. The two looked into the mirror: “Why don’t we go act and rely on our faces to eat. Just look at your face. You don’t need to be as popular as Ren Qinming, but it should at least be enough for you to be able to treat your mother’s illness.”

It was said that beauty lies in the bones, not in the skin8, but Ruan Song had both good skin and bones.

The person in the mirror had a goose-egg face, beautifully arched eyebrows, a narrow waist and thin shoulders. The fingers leaning against the sink were clean and slender, his eyes tainted with intoxication were covered with a captivating mist, and a blush rose at the edges of his eyes.

Then he spat out two words: “Fuck off.”

“Yessir.” Chen Yan’s round face once again grew happy, and he pulled the zipper of his bag shut, planning to listen to the other, “Then when you’re done eating, remember to send me a message. Don’t drink until you’re delirious when no one’s around to save you.”

Ruan Song: “Ok.”

“When will you change your mind and convince yourself to rely on your face to eat? If you decide not to face those idiots again you also have to send me a message!”

“……Are you going or not?”

Chen Yan leaned against the doorway and scolded: “One last sentence, I sent the photo to your WeChat9, so there’s no need for you to download it from Weibo yourself. If you end up finding out who Ren Qinming’s partner is you must remember to send me a message. They’ve already turned the world upside down on the internet.”

“Turning the world upside down has nothing to do with me!”

Ruan Song directly used his foot to drive the other away, and Chen Yan ran away without a trace in an instant, and only then did his ears find peace.

He waited until there was no one around him, then Ruan Song pulled out his phone, and that blurred photo of unrecognizable people kissing was posted in the chat.

Ruan Song’s fingertips hesitated over the photo for two seconds, and finally laughed at himself with derision, leaving the chat unread.

Whether it be Weibo or the entertainment news, the storm and uproar that filled his phone had nothing to do with his world.

Right now, the problem facing him was the practical reality of making money.

Ruan Song who had his hands full managing his own affairs, slapped his cheeks, and reminded himself to return to reality. He switched hands and scrolled to the unregistered number at the top of his ‘Messages’ list and returned a text.

It was also the first text in over a year.

[Just say you drank too much and needed support and that there’s a problem with the angle. I don’t have time to play these sex scandal games with you]

The author has something to say:

A certain film emperor: I’m not listening

Ruan Song: ……This damn kid

1. As in the cameras of the reporters, which are largely considered a journalist’s weapons.

2. Weibo, a blogging platform in China

3. KPI = key performance indicator, a performance measurement. Meant to evaluate the success of an organization.

4. Gege (哥哥), means older brother. Used as an affectionate term, and doesn’t usually require having a blood relationship. Occasionally shortened to ge as well.

5. 15551 is meant to be onomatopoeia for crying sounds (In Mandarin, this sounds like ‘yiwuwuwuyi’)

6. 555, same sentiment as above, crying noises (wuwuwu)

7. Eating melons, refers to reading about gossip/drama, specifically gossip that doesn’t involve oneself

8. According to Chinese culture, beauty is largely attributed to good facial structure, not just having a good facial features. RS has both good facial structure and facial features.

9. WeChat is a messaging service in China. Also has other features including: payment methods, posting photos, games