CH 30

Song: Hunting time!

In the large living room, Ruan Song hadn’t even been able to see what the floor of Ren Qinming’s million dollar home looked like before he was pressed against the door with a kiss.

This area was one of the most famous rich areas in City A. While standing in front of the floor to ceiling window, one could look out and see the most prosperous business center just a few blocks away.

There are rows upon rows of modern office buildings in the surrounding area, and the lights are brightly lit up at night. The building diagonally across hung up large billboards.

Every so often when Ruan Song took public transportation, he would also see it, and the advertisements on it would either be grand cars or brand name watches, if not, then it would be international luxury goods. And amongst this, Ren Qinming’s iconic face would often appear on the screen.

In the past, Ruan Song wouldn’t look at it nor would he listen to it, sealing off Ren Qinming, and sealing off himself.

But today, he abruptly opened his eyes and it was suddenly as if it were tomorrow. In just a few years, they would actually already have such a great difference in their social status.

His little puppy was no longer the little shadow that always tailed along behind him calling him ‘Song ge’, nor would the other grow excited and call him after winning a role with an audition, or after a certain director or actor recognized him.

Not a single light in the entire room was turned on.

The couple dragged each other in from the doorway, staggering along as they bumped into the considerably pricey leather couch in the living room. They didn’t even put on slippers after entering, and their clothes were scattered all throughout the way.

When Ruan Song’s bare back fell against the ice-cold sofa, he absent-mindedly faced upward to look at the crystal chandelier above him for a moment, and was just about to push aside the other to ask where the things were.

Ren Qinming had already kissed his way down to Ruan Song’s lower abdomen, and handed over a square box that still had its plastic packaging on while saying: “It was in the foyer.”

That is to say, when the pair just entered the door, Ren Qinming had actually obtained it, without even a second of delay.

Ruan Song ripped apart the packaging with well-practiced hands, and was in a good mood as he laughed. Exactly how much effort did the other need to exert to bring him back: “You really are scared I’m going to run, huh.”

Just because Ren Qinming in high school was foolish, and had the guts but didn’t have the heart, he couldn’t use these things at all. It was always Ruan Song who had the job of unpacking and wrapping the other up, and this division of labor naturally continued on from then.

So much so that even now after they’d already broken up, they still subconsciously followed the norm.

Now, Ren Qinming was just like he was in the past, obediently sitting there while waiting, a pair of dark eyes profoundly staring at Ruan Song. It was just that today, there was the addition of a complex anxiety.

To the extent that when Ruan Song held the condom, he suddenly remembered their first time.

The little puppy that had already tasted the forbidden fruit before determining the relationship was exactly the same as the beautiful and charming film emperor today that had already broken up with him.

At that time, Ruan Song reminded him: “You know that this doesn’t mean we’re together, right?”

Ren Qinming couldn’t say anything and simply nodded anxiously.

Today, Ruan Song once again reminded him: “You know that this doesn’t mean we’re together, right?”

He grew 8 years older, and in any case, Ren Qinming was able to speak this time: “……I know.”

Previously when they drank alcohol, and did it in the tent at the top of the mountain, he already knew that Ruan Song agreeing to do it with him meant nothing.

Or else they wouldn’t have done everything that lovers should do, yet continue dragging things on from high school to sophomore year of college before officially getting together.

During that time, Ren Qinming also couldn’t help but question Ruan Song closely countless times at his bedside, about exactly what he had to do to solidify their relationship status.

At first, Ruan Song said he didn’t know. Later, he said he hadn’t thought it through. Then, after he happened to have a good day and was asked about it, perhaps because Ruan Song was in a good mood, he made his decision.

And Ren Qinming’s birthday in their second year of university happened to be that kind of day.

Ren Qinming attempted to debut as an actor, and ran around countless production teams, and was finally able to win his first role.

Ruan Song only occasionally helped him during their freshman year. At that time, he was officially recruited into Yuan Yinhai’s studio, and became a closed-door disciple.

The pair was at a critical turning point in their life, and it seemed as if everything was about to develop into a good direction. For the first time, they had a clear path towards the ‘future’, and yet all the opportunities were wrong.

Ren Qinming did not expect that becoming a public figure and becoming an actor would occupy more than just his energy and time.

Nor did Ruan Song expect that the greatly respected teacher that introduced him to the industry would turn his face and become a hypocrite that extorted and pressured his students.

The sky outside the floor-to-ceiling windows had turned completely dark. The pale yet cold moonlight illuminated Ruan Song’s bright and clean skin, and a layer of white, cold light appeared.

He lowered his head and touched the body below him as if to send some kind of signal: “Is it okay to dirty your leather sofa?”

Ren Qinming’s voice was already hoarse as he raised his leg: “……I bought this house for you and aunty.”

His parents divorced in high school and they each settled down with another family after remarrying. If Ruan Song and his mother Ruan hadn’t cared for him, he might not have been able to enter the first class at all1.

There was no need to say anything about dirtying the leather sofa. He looked forward to the rug, dining table, bed sheets, bathroom……dirtying all the places that could be dirtied.

…

No matter what Chen Yan did these past few days, all he could hear about was Ruan Song.

During meetings at work, Ruan Song;

Having dinner with his colleagues after work, Ruan Song;

Meeting up to eat with college classmates that he hadn’t seen for a long while, it was still Ruan Song.

Chen Yan was different from Ruan Song. He was earnestly admitted into the entire country’s top university specializing in media, and was more or less similar to Sun Kaizi.

From time to time, several of his old classmates would gather together to talk about their recent lives as well as how long they were planning to stay in the screenwriting profession.

Now, Chen Yan had just arrived, and before even sitting down, he’d already heard their lively discussion.

“Now he’s popular at last, and he no longer has to worry about not having any scripts to write.”

“There’s no need to write screenplays, he can directly go and sell goods. He can earn several million with just one gig, only an idiot would still write screenplays.”

“He’s probably the one to create a precedent, and is the first screenwriter to rely on his face to eat.”

“It’s a matter of life and death. Nowadays, people who wield pens have to make public appearances to become famous, this is nothing.”

“Who? Ruan Song?” Over the past few days, Chen Yan continued to feel the pleasure of Ren Qinming hidden in front of him by Ruan Song, and even tasted the simulation of being immoral. He continued to pretend that he didn’t know Ruan Song and said, “Perhaps he has lofty ambitions, only loves writing stories, and doesn’t want to do anything else.”

Several of his old classmates burst out into a peal of laughter: “Which one of us doesn’t love writing stories to have decided to squat in this profession? But we also have to have food to eat. We’re nearly starving to death, but you’re still chatting about whether or not we like it.”

Someone else said: “Lao Chen, you’re lucky to have a roommate that has social anxiety. He has work but doesn’t do it himself, instead, pushing all of it onto you to do. You have to treat him well, hear me?”

In his heart, Chen Yan thought it couldn’t be better. He bumped into a great fortune, and hugged the golden thigh early: “I’m very conscious, okay. I’m a young river snail2 who cooks, takes out the garbage, and hangs the clothes to dry.”

Several people heard this and began teasing the other.

“Why does it sound as if you’re a bit unwilling? How about you switch with me?”

“That’s right, as long as I have work to do, not to mention being a river snail, I’d even be willing to warm their bed, and carry over water to clean their feet.”

“Your roommate is basically your bread and butter, your sugar daddy. If you’re not respectful next time, then he’ll be snatched up by me. I’ll come over for a visit and offer up my services.”

Chen Yan wasn’t modest at all, and raised his hand to pour his classmates a full cup of wine: “If you want to offer yourself up, go. Then see whether or not he’ll put up with you. Then you’ll know exactly what it means to have social anxiety.”

It has been so long, and the character design he set up for Ruan Song in front of his friends was one where the other’s social anxiety was at the level where the other was unwilling to leave the house, and unwilling to meet others.

So much so that if it wasn’t for Ruan Song’s mother’s illness urgently requiring money, then Ruan Song could really continue to live a very good life in this way. He wasn’t arrogant nor impatient with working for high-quality, long term projects. It was just that the money arrived a bit slower.

Of those who were present now, in the past, they were no worse than Chen Yan in their professional classes. Now, they were all sad and envious of him: “When will I be able to room with someone who’ll hand down food for me to eat.”

“Otherwise, it’d be nice if they had a face like Ruan Song that little girls like. God didn’t open the door or the window, and it really makes things hard for us plebes.”

These old classmates found joy in their times of sorrow, and each poured themselves cup after cup.

“The most important point is that even if Ruan Song doesn’t change his profession and continues to be a screenwriter, then his resources are in a completely different world from us. Jiang Zhi, then Sun Kaizi, even his master is famous, Yuan Yinhai. Oh, then there’s still an entire group of 27 crouching tigers and hidden dragons3. He doesn’t have to worry for the rest of his life.”

“But that person could view Sun Kaizi’s script as having good prospects, which actually requires a bit of skill, we can’t compare at all. Aii, if I can’t find work by next month, then I have to prepare to return to my hometown guys. I really can’t go on like this……”

After several cups of wine entered their stomachs, and everyone finished discussing the gossip, they once again began planning their future careers.

When all is said and done, dreams cannot rival reality.

As a small minority whose luck was good enough to meet Ruan Song, Chen Yan also didn’t know how to comfort the others.

After all, this was reality, and the career of a screenwriter was just like that.

There are too few people who are able to break through heaven and earth relying only on themselves despite having no resources, and no connections. It wasn’t that you didn’t write well, it was that others had absolutely no chance to see you in the first place.

This was the problem decided on by the prescribed foundational rules of the industry.

So Chen Yan was suddenly inspired by a thought: “Get this, what if we also set up a screenwriter’s studio, find someone with resources to be the boss, and have them trickle down some resources for us.”

Everyone laughed at him for having a pipe dream.

Why would someone with resources become a boss for small fry like them, isn’t it nice to make money for yourself? A foolish spendthrift may not necessarily be willing, to say the least of a top philanthropist jumping in4.

…

That evening, the program team’s urging call arrived as expected.

A cigarette dangled from Ruan Song’s mouth, and he laid on the bed while looking up. Other than tapping off the excess cigarette ash, he didn’t want to move a single finger at all. It was still Ren Qinming who went to the living room to pick up the call.

Just as they planned, they said they weren’t able to return until tomorrow morning.

But immediately after that, Xu Lan’s call also came, and she straightforwardly asked: “What’s the matter with you guys?”

Ren Qinming stood in the living room with a bare upper body and a thin towel wrapped around his waist. He provided the same excuse that he gave the program team: “Ruan Song’s mother’s fever is a bit serious, so we’re going to accompany her for a night.”

But Xu Lan then said: “I’m at his mother’s bedside right now, why don’t I know that his mother has a fever.”

As early as the time when they said mother Ruan was sick during the variety show broadcast, Xu Lan felt that something wasn’t right. Without leaving anything out, she brought fruits and gifts and hurried to the hospital. And sure enough, nothing had happened.

Now, she stood in the corridor outside the hospital room as she called to investigate: “Did you guys get back together, and then run outside for a date?”

Ren Qinming was just about to reply.

But Xu Lan rushed ahead to remind him: “The third condition in the agreement, you have to tell the truth to all the questions I ask.”

Ren Qinming choked for a moment: “We really are having a date, but we haven’t gotten back together.”

It wasn’t a lie if he avoided the truth.

Xu Lan: “Where are you having your date, you wouldn’t have been photographed by others right?”

Ren Qinming choked again: “No.”

Xu Lan: “If you say you haven’t, then you haven’t? Exactly where did you go.”

Ren Qinming: “……My house.”

The other end of the line was silent for two seconds, then Xu Lan said: “I don’t care how you guys play around in private. The only thing I care about is you can’t blow your cover in ‘19 Days of Cohabitation’, OK?”

This time, there was no need for Ren Qinming to respond. He didn’t know when, but Ruan Song had exited the room and heard Xu Lan over the speaker, and responded for Ren Qinming as he hugged his arms while leaning against the doorframe to the corridor. His voice was hoarse after just being tossed around: “We won’t blow our cover, Lan jie, don’t worry.”

Ren Qinming parroted along as he raised his head.

He saw Ruan Song covered in his loose-fitting nightgown with a loosely tied belt, his long legs partially hidden, his fingers still covered with a hint of scarlet smoke, walking bare feet against the cold marble floor. The red marks bursting across at the other’s collar appeared like plum blossoms dotting against snow covered ground, and could also be seen at the other’s inner thigh.

Once Xu Lan heard him, she got right to the point and asked: “Do you have anything you want to tell me recently, Xiao Song?”

The intuition of an experienced veteran who rushed headlong into battle for several years couldn’t be wrong.

During this time, not only did Xu Lan call Ruan Song out to pay attention to not be ‘complacent in the face of praise’, but had also greeted the program team of ‘19 Days of Cohabitation’.

Since Jiang Zhi and Sun Kaizi appeared on the show, public opinion has always been guided to a direction that discouraged viewers from deifying anyone.

But at night, Xu Lan still couldn’t seem to sleep easy. It really was that Ruan Song left her with too many questions and left the netizens with too many questions. This kind of curiosity could not be skipped over by simply guiding public opinion.

For example, why did Ruan Song, a culture student, go to study art? Why did Ruan Song have to start over anew after graduating his master’s program despite studying under a well respected teacher? Why did Ruan Song vanish without a trace, so much so that even Jiang Zhi could not find Yuan Yinhai himself and ask for Ruan Song’s contact information……

These kinds of questions hadn’t fermented in public opinion yet, but all kinds of threads of the story were interwoven together, and it was hard for Xu Lan not to overthink.

“Although I only have to take responsibility for managing Ren Qinming, now, the both of you are connected. If something happens to you, it means that something has happened to Ren Qinming. So if you discover that there is something that we have to guard against, you have to tell me in advance, okay?”

Although Xu Lan and Ruan Song have only met once, throughout their entire encounter, she could tell that the ‘professional spirit’ was the best way to persuade Ruan Song.

Ren Qinming didn’t know about what had happened between Ruan Song and Yuan Yinhai, but now that he knows, he had been a bit uncertain whether to tell Xu Lan about this or not.

But Ruan Song was more honest than he expected.

The tall man leaned against the wall and found the ash tray placed beside the wall: “I was originally planning to find you these past two days. Jie, your specialty is public relations, so you may need to check the details of the trend in public opinion of my situation.”

Nowadays, even murder didn’t require one to pay with their lives5, let alone a dean who ‘superficially’ occupied the belongings of poor students.

Seeing as he already decided to drag Yuan Yinhai down, then he couldn’t have any errors at all. He had to take advantage of his superior popularity to the greatest extent, and use all of his resources. He might not be able to consider all the details, so he should just thicken his skin to ask an expert for help.

Xu Lan also didn’t care what Ruan Song needed help with: “If you’re willing to tell me everything, then I can definitely help you to the end.”

In the entertainment industry, vilifying material wasn’t scary. What was most terrifying was not having a contingency plan and being caught off guard.

There were plenty of artists who were ruined by their carelessness.

…

As if some kind of miracle appeared, after Feng Xiao endured admonishment during the day, she regained the ‘normal level’ she should have in Yuan Yinhai’s thoughts that night.

The script that she sent to his email finally gave Yuan Yinhai’s irritable heart a sliver of calm. There were no issues after he handed it over to the production company, and the other party had even pacified him to rest well.

It may have been that it was too hard to write the script while teaching lessons, and that he was not energetic enough, so they told him not to take it to heart.

Almost as if habitually, ever since Ruan Song began to participate on the variety show, Yuan Yinhai would browse all the hot searches about the other every night before going to bed.

Some viral tags were because of his appearance, while other viral tags were with his film emperor boyfriend, Ren Qinming, and even more viral tags were with Sun Kaizi and Jiang Zhi, who wanted to cooperate with him on a project……

He was able to see these posts, and Fang Wei was also naturally able to see these as well.

These past few days, Fang Wei watched as a despicable person who had a history of plagiarism and nearly couldn’t graduate relied on the promotion of the variety show to slowly rise up, and felt the imbalance in his heart reach its peak.

Now it was quickly approaching their yearly class reunion, and Fang Wei finally couldn’t help but send Yuan Yinhai a message.

[Fang Wei: I’m really very furious, dean! All the screenwriters in our profession are industrious and conscientious, and we’ve all used our real skill to eat. Just that Ruan Song, acting as if he’s about to debut and developing a huge fanbase. No one’s seen his works, but everyone’s chasing after him. This kind of atmosphere is creating a horrible influence on our industry! It’s completely like bad money driving out good business! They’re all so fickle-hearted!]

He was full of confidence that Yuan Yinhai, the first person to expose Ruan Song’s plagiarism that year, would support and respond in favor when he berated Ruan Song.

But in reality, the response that Yuan Yinhai gave him was equivalent to avoiding the important while dwelling on the trivial aspects.

[Teacher: Those who don’t have true ability will ultimately fail and be exposed. This period of popularity is just a mirage, and one day it will be destroyed. We just need to wait for him to reap what he has sown. There is no need for us to spend so much energy on these things that do not benefit us]

Fang Wei couldn’t understand this at all.

[Fang Wei: But we can directly expose him! Why should we allow him to deceive everyone and make a profit off of things that don’t belong to him??]

[Fang Wei: Also, you might be unaware of it, but if the serial murder IP didn’t land in my hands, then the production company was about to find Ruan Song to write the script! They only stopped after I spoke up about it!]

If Yuan Yinhai was still able to control his temper with the last few messages, then when the last message appeared in the chat window, Yuan Yinhai immediately threw a glass of water onto the ground, scolding Fang Wei for being an idiot.

Then, as if smashing the cup wasn’t enough, he continued to throw around whatever was near his hands. After banging around, everything was scattered all over the floor by Yuan Yinhai, and the appearance of a refined person that he showed during the day completely disappeared.

On the other end, Fang Wei waited for the other’s message, but ultimately only received three words.

[Teacher: Don’t provoke him]

Fang Wei: “???”

If this wasn’t his long respected teacher, then he definitely would have replied with ‘What exactly are you afraid of’.

It was as if he had returned to the time when he discovered Ruan Song’s plagiarism right before they graduated their master’s program.

According to the nature of the situation, he was clearly able to directly take away Ruan Song’s master’s certificate. But ultimately, the other didn’t receive any disciplinary action at all and Yuan Yiinhai had even instructed him countless times not to disclose this matter to anyone.

If it were in the past, Fang Wei might have truly believed the pretty words that Yuan Yinhai didn’t want A University to be under fire for a plagiarism scandal.

But now, seeing Yuan Yinhai defend Ruan Song in all kinds of ways, he nearly couldn’t help but suspect that Yuan Yinhai was dead set on his partiality towards Ruan Song, and was even shielding the other!

However, today’s Ruan Song is no longer the same as the Ruan Song in the past who floated like duckweed and was bullied by others.

Seeing as Ruan Song grew increasingly popular on Weibo, Yuan Yinhai began to feel increasingly anxious at heart.

Because this meant that Ruan Song held more influence in his hands, and Ruan Song’s status grew closer to his. He could no longer casually say a word and have the other be expelled and shut out of the movies and television industry like an ant on the side of the road.

Ruan Song clearly should have been the same as the other students that he had ‘chosen’ before, who disappeared from public view after they were used. How did he not know that the other still had a boyfriend that debuted as an actor……

Ruan Song’s viral popularity became a devil haunting Yuan Yinhai’s heart, and the perfect public persona that he had crafted for so many years was on the brink of crisis.

To the extent that the next morning when Yuan Yinhai was in class lecturing, he even began to hallucinate.

He suddenly realized that he actually seemed to see ‘Ruan Song’ sitting in the corner of the classroom near the window, wearing a mask and a hat, just like when he was studying in university, holding a pen while staring up at him.

And the person who sat next to him was Feng Xiao.

She was wearing the same outfit as before, with her hair in pigtails, lowering her head to seriously read the teaching materials in her hand, as if Ruan Song didn’t exist at all.

None of the other students in the classroom thought it was strange, without the slightest bit of excitement that came with seeing a celebrity or idol.

Yuan Yinhai was forced to gaze attentively at ‘Ruan Song’ every so often, while the hand holding the mouse that controlled the PPT trembled.

He repeatedly told himself that  Ruan Song was probably caring for his sick mother, had to hurry back to film the variety show, and definitely wouldn’t be able to appear here.

Just as the first class ended, he finally convinced himself that he only imagined ‘Ruan Song’ here because the other had been on his mind frequently in the past few days.

The class bell rang.

‘Ruan Song’ who remained still throughout the entire class suddenly stood up in his seat. Conversely, all the students in the class calmed down.

Following the ‘bang bang bang’ sounds of hand held firecrackers being unscrewed by someone, Yuan Yinhai’s entire field of vision was filled with colorful strips of paper and flashing sequins, and the quiet classroom immediately flared up.

Some students clapped against the table, while others stomped their feet, and other students cheered. Meanwhile, the ‘Ruan Song’ he originally thought was an illusion actually removed his mask and his hat, then pulled out a birthday cake from a drawer. In the face of the audience’s stares and the increasingly resounding noise, he walked forward step by step towards the podium with a smile on his face.

He asked: “Could it be that I’ve changed? How come it seems as if Dean Yuan doesn’t recognize me, and actually didn’t recognize me throughout the entire class.”

At that moment, Yuan Yinhai saw Ruan Song standing there so lively in front of so many students, and nearly thought he was still dreaming.

“Shouldn’t you have already gone back to record the variety show……”

“But today is the dean’s birthday, have you forgotten?”

Ruan Song’s nightmarish voice reverberated in Yuan Yinhai’s ears from beginning to end. The other’s phoenix eyes were gentle and harmless, and he meaningfully exchanged pleasantries: “I heard that you didn’t plan on setting up a birthday banquet this year, and I thought you were teaching classes while also writing scripts, so you found it difficult to manage. I really couldn’t help but worry, so I still decided to find the time to hurry back and check up on you. I was also able to bring you a birthday cake. Long time no see, I trust you’ve been well since we last met.”

Yuan Yinhai’s eye unconsciously grew bloodshot as he stared into Ruan Song’s eyes.

He was just about to continue questioning the other, unwilling to give up on the last sliver of hope that he was still dreaming.

But Ruan Song leaned in to whisper in his ear: “Do you still think that if I stand up and accuse you of academic fraud right now, no one will listen to me?”

Yuan Yinhai nearly couldn’t control his blood pressure from rushing up his head, and was just about to lose it.

But Ruan Song had already withdrawn from beside his ear, and continued to congratulate the other with ease: “Happy birthday, Dean Yuan.”

Countless other female students from neighboring classrooms heard the news and hurried over. Once they saw Ruan Song’s face clearly, they immediately began to shriek frantically, and less than two seconds later, the crowd around him became impenetrable.

From beginning to end, Ruan Song good-naturedly smiled, and repeatedly accepted paper and pen to sign his name.

Everyone was immersed in the jubilation of meeting their idol until they heard a ‘bang’ from behind them. Yuan Yinhai had directly lost consciousness.

The students immediately turned around and began to scream, “Dean Yuan”.

Only Ruan Song was not surprised in the least as he pulled out his phone, and ‘calmly’ said: “I’ll call an ambulance.”

.

The author has something to say:

Song: Hunting time!

TN: i created a discord! please feel free to join to chat about bl lol. i’m not so familiar with discord myself but i’ll try to update on my progress with chapters there so I don’t leave y’all hanging (ಥ﹏ಥ)

also, just wanted to say, don’t hate fang wei! he’s also a victim in all of this  yyh is the real a-hole

1. First class as in the gifted class in high school.

2. Describing someone as a ‘river snail’ means they act as little house cleaners – they do all the housework, clean, cook, laundry, etc.

3. Crouching tiger, hidden dragon – talented individuals in hiding

4. This language is a bit confusing here, but in essence: even someone who’s stupid but has money and resources (foolish spendthrift) may not be willing to become a boss and have others make money off of him. And it’s even less likely for a philanthropist to be willing to jump in on such a ‘studio’. Hope this helps!

5. Even if someone committed murder, they wouldn’t be punished with losing their life (either jail or death sentence)