CH 13

Lu Xingzhe not only has a bad reputation but also has a poisonous mouth, he can make other people die in anger with just a few words. However, he thought that swearing was a childish thing, neither painful nor itching1. So, if one wanted to play, then one should play bug. 

For example; Su Ge’s fake injury thing.

Another example; Sun Ming’s coercion toward Xi Nian to give up during the game…

Lu Xingzhe didn’t mind being the on-looker of the bustle when things would get lively. He opened the computer folder, then edited the previously copied video, focusing on magnifying Su Ge’s “injured” hand. However, before he finished editing, a familiar phone number started calling him.

The name on the screen was Jiang Lun, a name that was no stranger to people in the circle because he was Su Ge’s manager.

Lu Xingzhe was busy and didn’t intend to answer it at first. But after he thought of something, changed his mind, and reached out to pick up the phone. Pressing it against his ear, he clicked on the answer button: “What’s the matter?”

Just by listening to the tone, it seemed to be a familiar acquaintance. 

Jiang Lun was a middle-aged man in his forties, because he has been smoking for many years, his voice was hoarse and unpleasant: “I want to talk about a business with you.”

Lu Xingzhe slightly raised his eyebrows, and suddenly guessed the phone call’s purpose in his heart: “Just say it, for the sake of you being a regular customer, you will get a 10% discount.”

Jiang Lun slowly uttered two words: “Xi Nian.”

He said: “No matter what method you use—whether you make it up or pinch it from somewhere—within three days, I want his black material, and it should be the kind that cannot be turned over.2“

Lu Xingzhe didn’t speak, and his fingertips slowly whirled at the end of his eyebrows. He knew that today’s program broadcast threatened Su Ge’s popularity, he said with a half-smile, “Tsk, so poisonous.”

Jiang Lun was currently in a state of desperation, and he didn’t notice the deep meaning hidden in Lu Xingzhe’s tone: “Anyway, you’ll get your money. The usual rules apply, I will transfer the deposit to your account in a while.”

This was a steady profit and no loss business. Unexpectedly, Lu Xingzhe touched his chin and pondered for a while, and for the first time, he refused: “Don’t worry, let’s talk about it when the delivery is made.”

Jiang Lun did not doubt him: “Okay.”

In the entertainment circle, rumours and gossip were a knife that can injure without drawing blood. Obviously, this was not the first time that Jiang Lun used this method to remove obstacles for the artists under him. Lu Xingzhe perfunctorily managed to brush him off and then hung up the phone.

The night outside the window was getting deeper and darker, and the rain that had stopped some time ago unknowingly started to fall again. It dripped on the glass and made a dense and slight noise, and for no apparent reason, the room seemed quieter and quieter.

Lu Xingzhe finished editing the video, got up from the computer desk, and then limped toward the bed. He didn’t have the habit of turning off the lights, as he liked the bright and noble feeling. A blue and white coat was quietly placed at the end of the bed, silently showing its sense of existence. 

His leg still hurt a little.

Lu Xingzhe couldn’t sleep and for the first time, he felt that the lights were a bit dazzling. As he heard the slight sound of cold rain outside, for some reason, he suddenly remembered the night when he was hit by a car.

The darkened sky, the staggered tree shadows, and the man who appeared without warning—the breath on his clothes was slightly cool, which could make people feel the indifference emanating from his bones, but the arms that opened in the embrace were warm.

Lu Xingzhe thought that he was by no means the poor wretch who would be grateful to others for reaching out to save him once, but in fact, he has started to think of Xi Nian often. 

Because of the tossing and turning of the person on the bed, the coat slid down without a sound. When the coat was about to fall to the floor, it was quickly picked up by a hand.

Lu Xingzhe looked through the coat as if looking at another person faintly. He remembered what Jiang Lun said just now, curled his lips in a gloating smile, and said to himself in a low voice: “You have fallen into my hands this time.”

The ratings of 《Star Movement Association》had always been high. After the first competition of knockout rounds was broadcasted last night, the popularity of related topics soared. In addition to the wonderful performance of the nation’s little flower3 Shen Xilin in the gymnastics competition, there was another person who became popular beyond all people’s expectations.

#Xi Nian was amazing in the arena and turned against the wind#

#Star Movement Association Ranking of Popular Players who won#

Just overnight, hot search terms related to Xi Nian have sprung up like bamboo shoots after a spring rain4, and even the ranking on the superstar list has soared like a rocket. The number of Weibo fans and super talk posts has changed from the previous cold pot to the hot stove, gradually gaining popularity. 

[Image) (Image) (Image) (Image) Xi Nian flourishing beautiful face, come and lick it, wuwuwu. I must have been blind before, why have I never found such a beautiful person in the entertainment industry?]

[Isn’t it true that good-looking people don’t like to take selfies? Brother’s online photos are pitifully scarce, and if you want to lick his beauty you can only take screenshots of the competition. Which is quite pitiful!]

[I’ve never seen such a lovely face]

[I went to the competition site that day, and although Xi Nian looked cold, he was super kind. Not only did he sign autographs for us, but he also sent us raincoats when it rained. God forbid! It was so hard not to blush!]

[Envied QAQ]

It was still raining outside, and high-rise buildings were hidden in the clouds, so high that they could not be seen at a glance. This prosperous city was always bustling with someone climbing to reach high, and also someone constantly falling.

Sitting cross-legged on the floor, Xi Nian stayed up all night. The ashtray beside him was full of burnt cigarette butts while he kept staring at his mobile phone and saw how the number of his Weibo fans rose rapidly—how the relevant hot posts were frequently forwarded. After staring for a long time, all the colourful pages turned into cold data.

Xi Nian should be happy because that was all he wants, but after he felt pleased, he had some inexplicable feeling that God was playing tricks on him.

He had tossed so much in his previous life, and in the end, he was ruined because he wanted to be what he was today— the once unattainable things are easily obtained in this life. As expected, no one can say for sure about such an unpredictable thing as luck.

The System has been paying close attention to his situation. When Xi Nian put his hand on his forehead and didn’t speak, it fell quietly beside him:【In fact, sometimes if you persist for a long time, the ending may not be very bad.】

The smoke at Xi Nian’s fingertips hadn’t burned out yet, so he dusted off the ashes: “Don’t give me chicken soup for the soul.5“

When people reach a certain age, they actually understand all the principles they should understand. They know that murder was a crime, and they know that lost things on the road should not be pocketed6 but so what, they still live in thousands of different ways.

Therefore, the system has long known that it was useless to reason and required an electric shock. Its voice was always filled with tingling electric currents as if reminding something:【Don’t go the wrong way…】

In this life, climb to the top cleanly.

Xi Nian paused upon hearing the words and his rubbing hand paused in action and withdrew suddenly, as if he had felt a electric spark at his fingertips. He stood up from the ground, feeling that the system was too naïve. Why can’t he take the shortcut? Those well-dressed people in the entertainment industry, how many of them have clean hands? 

Liu Xingzhe had been squatting downstairs and it was not until the afternoon that he finally saw Xi Nian go out. He tapped his fingertips on the steering wheel for a moment, as if thinking about something, and then finally decided to start the car to follow up.  

Anyone familiar with Xi Nian knows that he did not like to run around—except for work reasons, he basically stayed at home. He just went out after receiving a temporary notice from the hospital to review his injuries.

Lu Xingzhe has been following behind, he thought that Xi Nian would go to a place like a bar when he went out at this time, but he didn’t expect him to go to the hospital. He vaguely guessed something in his heart, so he didn’t follow Xi Nian upstairs but sat in the car and continued to wait.

About twenty minutes later, Xi Nian came out of the hospital with a bag of medicine. Lu Xingzhe saw him get into the car and was about to catch up. But, would have thought that an inconspicuous black sedan started following Xi Nian one step ahead of him.

At first, Lu Xingzhe didn’t care about it, he just thought it was a coincidence, but when the other party followed behind at several intersections in succession, he finally realized something was wrong. There was a curve ahead, and without making anything apparent Lu Xingzhe speeded up to overtake. When he was side by side with the opponent he looked out, only to find a black camera on the passenger seat through the window glass.

Lu Xingzhe withdrew his gaze, it turned out to be a colleague.

It was most likely to be sent by Jiang Lun, that old fox. After all, Lu Xingzhe was not the only paparazzi in the entertainment industry. Finding more people will provide more security for the job being done.

Things turned lively, and Lu Xingzhe didn’t mind partaking in it. So, he dialed a series of numbers on his mobile phone, and the phone was connected after two rings. There was a familiar male voice from the other end, which was obviously Xi Nian’s, whose throat was a little rustling due to smoking too much: “What do you want me to do?”

Lu Xingzhe followed not far or near, and when he heard the words, he chuckled: “Such indifference, I was about to kindly inform you something.”

Xi Nian didn’t believe that he had such good intentions: “What do you mean?”

Lu Xingzhe deliberately drove the car to a blind spot in Xi Nian’s line of sight: “You will know when you look back.”

Hearing this, Xi Nian glanced in the rear-view mirror and saw a black car following behind—the driver was a tall and thin man. He instantly understood what was going on, but he didn’t care: “So there are followers.”

Since Lu Xingzhe could make a phone call to report the news, it means that he was also nearby, and Xi Nian’s words directly scolded him too.

Lu Xingzhe smiled lowly: “I’m so kind, if someone takes pictures of you when you go out whoring, it would be bad.”

Xi Nian slowed down the car without any trace: “You called just to say this?”

Lu Xingzhe said, “Of course not.” He paused, and his voice was suddenly covered with ambiguity, with stickiness like strands of honey: “Talk about a business with you.”

Elder Xi Nian felt that this sentence was very familiar as if he had heard it somewhere, but he couldn’t remember it. Lu Xingzhe was always unpredictable in his actions, especially when he has not even made anything clear. Hearing the words, he didn’t immediately agree: “I don’t think we have any business to talk about.”

Lu Xingzhe’s hair was dishevelled by the cold wind coming from outside of the car window, and some of it pierced his eyes, which made to squint unconsciously: “You can refuse.”

“…”

Xi Nian thought for three seconds when he heard the words, he knew well enough that there was a trap. But curiosity still prevailed, wanting to know what little calculations Lu Xingzhe was planning: “Okay.”

The thin and tall man’s tracking skills were really bad. Xi Nian has spotted him since he went out, he was just too lazy to pay attention to him, and now it was a matter of a few minutes to get rid of this trail. He took a long detour around the neighbourhood and made sure that the other person wasn’t following him anymore. Then, he drove home and parked his car at the bottom of the building.

Xi Nian opened the door and got out of the car. He was about to contact Lu Xingzhe when he caught a glimpse from the corner of his eye. Not far away stood a familiar figure, and seeing him Xi Nian couldn’t help but stop in his tracks.

Lu Xingzhe limped up to him, wearing a baseball cap but today he rarely wore a white casual shirt, with his camera in one hand. When he saw Xi Nian, the corners of his lips curled up slightly, and he whistled frivolously.

Xi Nian: “…”

一At first glance, he definitely looked like a hooligan.

[bù tòng bù yǎng]: meaning neither pain nor itching. It means that only scratching the surface, and miss the point, or do not solve the problem.

[fānshēn]: it means to liberate oneself from something, stand up again, or take a favourable turn.

[guó mín xiǎo huā]: One of the different titles that are given to actors liked by the majority of the country. It is something similar to Nations’ little sister: who is a young female [or male] celebrity in her [or his] late teens to early twenties… [who is] cute, bright, and innocent.

[yǔ hòu chūn sǔn]: bamboo shoots after a spring rain/mushrooms after rain. It means bamboo shoots that grow after heavy rain in spring, and grow a lot at once. It is a metaphor for new things emerging rapidly and in large numbers.

[xīn líng jī tāng]: Chicken soup for the soul, refers to something that has a motivation, strengthening, or inspirational effect. 

[lù bù shí yí]: picks up lost articles on the street — a peaceful and prosperous time. It refers society where the moral standard is high regarding personal honesty.