CH 32

The news about marriage proposals in the variety show “Are You Ready?” had been constantly on the search list during this period, indicating how popular the show was.

People were attracted to the various marriage preparation of different couples.

Some of those passers-by audiences once heard about the scandal involving He Gaoyi and Le Tianhua who had attempted to jointly frame Qin Siyuan. After which, they didn’t pay attention or hardly heard any news about those two people. To their surprise, they saw another HOT news with them as the protagonists these days.

When their curiosity got piqued and they were led to click on the news, their reaction became:

‘Hm?? Now, this is a piece of good news. Two Scumbags gonna marry each other!’

Well done! This couldn’t get any better. A Scumbag should end up with another Scumbag. What a match made in Heaven! They suit each other well! Please be happy and don’t go harming innocents ever again. Because who knew what kind of scheme would they brew again if they felt they aren’t satisfied with each other?

Naturally, He Gaoyi was unaware of what other people thought for the time being. If he ever knew, he’d definitely roar at them for slanders:

‘Who the hell is going to plot on others? Who the fudge could we scheme at this point? If anything, it is us who got schemed on and were steadily pushed into the abyss of marriage, alright!’

These two lovers could only bite the bullet and proceed onward. As they continued their activities, now even non-fans or passers-by actually started asking them; ‘When are you going to get married?’.

Now that Le Tianhua had already accepted his proposal, the only thing left was for them to officially announce their marriage, everyone was waiting for this exact news.

At first, they planned to bluff the marriage by simply holding some party or wedding ceremony. After all, those passers-by didn’t really expect them to really get married…no?

Alas, what a pity…They did expect them!

The internet had been boiling with this topic, and those netizens were all looking forward—to the scene of these two guys getting their marriage license, legally.

Both of them were put in a tough spot. Now that they had come to this point, if they didn’t truly follow the masses’ expectation to be legally married, then they shouldn’t expect a good end.

Things like using a relationship to hype up their own popularity had been done quite a lot by several celebrities in the past. Looking like they would sail on the boat, only to stop at the most critical moment and call their relationship off. As a result, those celebrities couldn’t escape the backlash and both endured a huge loss in their careers.

He Gaoyi and Le Tianhua were yet to be genuine celebrities, they were merely at the level of being internet influencers currently. None of them could afford any loss. To begin with, they had a pitiful number of endorsements for them to afford to lose any. They couldn’t afford to lose fans either. Nowadays, a lot of fans already felt they got betrayed by the CP they Shipped on, calling them liars, and reporting them to the LIVE Broadcast management—causing their channel to be suspended for a while. Those kinds of accidents, they had had enough of it.

In this kind of situation, what else could they do?

There’s no way for them to break their relationship. Or rather, not when some of their contracts required them to be in a relationship for the period, lest it’d be considered a breach of contract.

Breaching off their contract meant they had to pay liquidation money. And they absolutely could not afford to pay them either.

On the contrary, if they got married in the near future, some brands had already contacted them and promised them some endorsements for their products.

In the end, the pair of lovers clenched their teeth;

‘For the sake of wealth, we shall advance bravely!’

***

Their touching resolution brought great joy to Wu Siyuan once he heard about it. His mood immediately became much brighter.

These days he had been annoyed with all kinds of rich-family drama in the company.

He didn’t give a damn about the existence of his so-called little brother, likewise, why must he be forced to care about this little brother?

Personally, Wu Siyuan was the type of someone who liked to settle an account after Autumn[1].

The trial for his Third Uncle had already started. It didn’t take a long time for the Police to conclude their investigation. The schedule for the Court’s hearing had been speeded up as well.

There was sufficient evidence. What was left to decide was how many years the culprit would have to be sentenced.

Considering how Wu Siyuan was still alive and kicking, most likely the perpetrator, Third Uncle, couldn’t be sentenced too heavily.

However, the direct culprit who initiated the car crash, the paid driver, was still lying on the hospital bed. In this case, his Third Uncle had to bear most of the responsibility.

His daughter, or it should be Qin Siyuan’s cousin, had already brought her mother to stay away from the messy situation, long since the day her father became the suspect.

Looking at how Wu Siyuan was unfazed as he stood up against his own parents, to the point of demoting their position in the company or stripping their job away, other people mostly stopped thinking he’d have familial affection to be lenient if his family were to make trouble for him.

At least, now they could still have their dividends from the share, and could still get their hands on family funds. So, they decided to behave well for once in front of Qin Siyuan.

After all, going against him had no good end. Aside from his own parents, everyone else ended up squatting in prison.

‘We really can’t afford to offend this guy! Let’s retreat and don’t make any more scenes.’

***

Qin Father and Qin Mother still insisted to meddle in the company. However, outside of the shareholder’s meeting where they could play their rights to vote, they had no privilege left to decide any decision at all in the company.

They had no choice but to vote in opposition to every Wu Siyuan’s proposal or decision in the shareholders meeting thenceforth.

Unfortunately, today is different from the past. Now, unlike before, few people were willing to sell their rights as shareholders.

Facing their neverending opposition, Wu Siyuan pursed in lip in disappointment: Honestly…It’s really embarrassing to look at.

Luckily for him, his main objectives, the targets of his task in this world, were obedient and well-behaved.

Wu Siyuan would never think of this before. But it turned out that when we compared several kinds of scumbags against each other, some of them could be regarded as—the good people among scumbags in the century.

As expected, if there’s no comparison, there would be no expectation!

Wu Siyuan kindly reminded the protagonists’ manager to put pressure on them lately:

“Isn’t it just getting a marriage license? Just go and make an appointment at the Civil Affair office. Why the long dawdle?”

At first, He Gaoyi and Le Tianhua planned to drag registering their marriage legally as long as possible, taking as much time as they could to prolong this end, however, with their manager joining the fight to urge them, there was no way left out for both of them.

“We have several brands here hoping to reach a cooperation with you two. One is from a travel company. They want to shoot a honeymoon advertisement, but that is only after both of you truly registered as a married couple. They promised to sponsor your honeymoon and cover all expenses. What you need to do is just, enjoy your honeymoon, and get your pictures taken occasionally.”

“—And the other one is an offer from a clothing company, for suit endorsement. In my opinion, this advertisement can be shot together with the travel advertisement before.”

“—Lastly, we also have an advertisement for a wedding ring. All these endorsements are offered to both of you, under the premise that you will get married, a legal one.”

He Gaoyi, “…”

In the end, he asked with difficulty: “If, if we take these offers, when do you think is the best time for us to get married?’

With no hesitation, Wu Siyuan’s subordinate, their manager, replied: “Of course, the sooner the better! Right after you get your marriage book, I will immediately contact them, the two of you can sign the contract shortly, and we’ll soon proceed with the shooting arrangement.”

The temptation from the high endorsement fee eventually became the last straw that broke the protagonist Gong and Shou—to succumb to the power of Capitalism…

***

At the beginning of another week after that day, the protagonists Gong and Shou voluntarily, and consciously, helped Wu Siyuan to complete his task in this world.

That’s right!

They finally got married!

Perhaps, it’s because if you want to deceive others you have to deceive yourself first, at this important moment, both He Gaoyi and Le Tianhua looked as if they were truly moved by their own ‘love and romane’, and seemed to be genuinely excited as they announce their marriage.

The two of them along with some of their family members came to the Civil Affairs Bureau to register their marriage. They didn’t forget to give some ad-lib by adding a touching oath during the process.

It’s unknown if other people were genuinely happy for their union, however, the two protagonists looked happy nonetheless.

Wu Siyuan, as a matter of course, would not let this chance go by, and quickly arrange a lottery draw in his fake-fan account on Weibo to celebrate.

The invisible burden in his heart vanished the moment he saw the iconic red book in the hands of the protagonists Gong and Shou.

…Now, his responsibility had ended.

That meant, he could finally leave the protagonists to fend for themselves, whatever happen to them in the future.

Inside Wu Siyuan’s heart, he had completed his task here; to bring the protagonist together (Marriage Hall), impeccably.

That should be the case, nothing could go wrong. After All, just look at how many people were moved to tears by their union.

That day, the internet became witness to a tear-jerking day, for He Gaoyi and Le Tianhua.

‘The Ship we’ve been rooting all this time, sail to the sea of marriage at last!’

As the number one supporter who had worked the hardest behind the scene, naturally, Wu Siyuan was not stingy and generously decide to reward himself with a good vacation. Coincidentally, Qin Siyuan’s grandfather had also just sent him several useful staff to help, so all’s well.

Now that his priority, his biggest concern had been solved, his muscles had also become less tense.

*

*

*

Time flies, and a few years soon passed in a flash.

After all this time, Wu Siyuan began to change his previous schedule, from shooting one movie per year, to one Movie every two years. The golden finger given by the System had only managed to make him able to act properly, but not definitely to the level of the Original Movie Emperor Qin Siyuan.

Besides, Wu Siyuan was busy with his business career, so even his fans were fooled to think that appearing in a Movie once every 2 years was already very good enough.

The family affairs in the Qin family had finally subsided at last. All of the troublemakers tucked their tails in a well-behaved manner facing Wu Siyuan’s ‘family restoration project‘ these past few years.

All in all, Wu Siyuan’s life was smooth sailing in the right direction.

——However, for the protagonists Gong and Shou, these past few years were never been good!

It was true that after the variety show of “Are You Ready” ended their program they felt like they finally gain great momentum.

First of all, Qin Siyuan finally stopped his action of blocking their activity in the Entertainment Industry due to the previous grudge of them trying to frame him. For He Gaoyi, particularly, he was even better since his previous resources and chances gradually came back.

Both He Gaoyi and Le Tianhua continued to accept more offers and endorsements. Though, all of them, without fail, had one similar premise written clearly in the contract; being a married couple.

Surprisingly though, after getting somewhat rich, the relationship between the two that had turned sour started to change back into the sweet past.

…Such a joyful life, they thought it would last forever.

The job being offered to He Gaoyi for either a TV Series or Movie participation was actually not bad…Not bad, however, all this time none of them was an offer to be a Lead Actor.

Afterward, the two of them decided to change their manager—to which their decision was gladly welcomed by the said manager, who had also briskly retreated from the limelight and returned to the new position arranged by Wu Siyuan.

The manager had been working hard, and Wu Siyuan was greatly satisfied with his performance, so he generously gave him a lot of bonuses and other rewards. The retired manager was even more motivated and fired up to start his new job.

Speaking of which, Wu Siyuan didn’t just plant one of his subordinates around the protagonists Gong and Shou. Aside from the manager, there was also the assistant of the said protagonists.

This assistant was also doing their job conscientiously. The assistant was still left planted on the other side, dutifully continuing to note and report any event to Wu Siyuan every day.

But after he saw the amount of bonuses that the manager got as he finished his post, the little assistant also started to remind Wu Siyuan every so often, to let him finish this assistant job as soon as possible!

“Boss, take me back immediately! Please don’t forget about me!”

In the end, Wu Siyuan permitted the little assistant to finish his assignment, and the little assistant decisively resigned from being He Gaoyi and Le Tianhua’s assistant, to start another new job arranged by Wu Siyuan.

***

Wu Siyuan no longer had any intention for him to monitor the protagonists Gong and Shou, so he stopped paying attention to the two’s life as well.

It was a long time after that he got the news of them seemingly not doing well.

As people said, it’s hard to mend a broken mirror back to what it used to be [2], however, when you have money, everything is possible!

On the other hand, the higher a person’s status was, the higher their consumption would be.

Previously, both He Gaoyi and Le Tianhua had decided to change their manager, thinking that it was their manager’s incapability that made him unable to score a Lead Actor role in any script. Unfortunately, even after they went to another manager, He Gaoyi still couldn’t hit any desirable role.

The situation was even worse in Le Tianhua’s case. Don’t mention any Movie on the big screen, all he got for an acting offer was nothing but Online Dramas!

To make matter worse, they were all the type of short and thus briefly shot drama.

Inevitably, the gap between the two protagonists was getting bigger and clearer.

The movies or TV series where they starred together gradually became aesthetically fatigued.

Since the two of them rarely worked together anymore, the gossip account on the internet started to spread the news that;

#He Gaoyi and Le Tianhua are no longer in a relationship

#The two husbands are going to file a divorce

or there was even an exaggerated gossip that said:

#Hot news! He Gaoyi and Le Tianhua have long been divorced!

When people had to work together, they had to look at each other’s faces every day. It’s normal for them to grow tired of each other’s presence.

There was also another gossip account that analyzed their relationship:

[They no longer have any chemistry at all. At this point, them being together without divorce is just purely due to endorsement issues. If they get divorced, they’d have to pay a huge sum of liquidation fee.]

Anyhow, various kinds of theories and analyses were flying around. Some people thought they were pretty reasonable, some thought they were not to be trusted.

On Wu Siyuan’s side, it was long ago, right after the protagonists Gong and Shou got married, Wu Siyuan had already stopped his career as a fake-dedicated Shipper. He had put down his mantle under the saying;

[My CP are deeply in love with each other, my Ship has safely sailed. My dreams have come true, so I will peacefully retire from the stage. Fellow Shippers, if it’s destined, we shall meet each other again in the vast world~]

Others tried to find out who this mysterious rich Shipper was, but unfortunately, all of them failed to find his true identity.

***

Right now, He Gaoyi and Le Tianhua truly had no feelings left for each other.

Since they couldn’t even get a divorce, they felt disgusted toward each other.

There were a lot of cases where marriage was not bound by love. Be that as it may, the married couple would still at least respect each other and live their life calmly.

In these two people’s case, however, even when they were sleeping in the same room, but when the curtains were closed, they just began to scold each other fiercely. It wasn’t rare either for their argument to end up in a fistfight.

As such, aside from them having a good life for a couple of years after their marriage, from then on they hardly received any scripts to act, or other offers.

Their previously sky-high ambitions had been worn away.

The people who were set to be optimistic about their talent in the original plot, or the spare tires who were set to be fascinated by these protagonists Gong and Shou—none of them appeared.

In reality, these days, celebrities with good enough status couldn’t afford to offend Qin Siyuan, if they were to have any contact with these two who once tried to frame him. Therefore, unless it was necessary, for example, for work purposes, the others absolutely refused to have any dealings with them at all.

Additionally, any Director who wanted to offer some work to them, was also absolutely unwilling to meet with either of them without any other people being present.

Firstly, their acting skills were not good enough for them these Directors to be buddy-buddy with them. But most importantly, these Directors were afraid to be the next Liu Tianhe!

That’s right.

Even today, Liu Tianhe hadn’t been stopped from being ridiculed. [3]

Hence, nobody wanted to star in any scandal with these two.

Frankly speaking, no one knew where could he get the confidence, for Le Tianhua to think that he was better than Qin Yingdi in the first place. His acting had no soul at all. His scripts were all over the place. It’s unknown whose fault it was.

So today, once again, the news of protagonists Gong and Shou fighting rushed into the hot search.

A lot of people look at them sarcastically.

[IMO, this couple is weird. They’re married and work together for money. They cheat their Shipper fans’ feelings. From the start, I already felt that these two might have never loved each other at all, but the appearance of their Shipper fans inspired them to pretend as lovers. As expected, lovers without true love will never last long. It’s just a few years and their true shape has shown up!]

[Me too! I watched the video of them getting their marriage book back then, and actually, I thought they were faking their reactions.]

These kinds of comments, no matter how much the Shipper fans tried to control the field, they couldn’t stop all of them from appearing one after another.

***

He Gaoyi and Le Tianhua were indeed thinking of divorce. Too bad they were immediately warned by their company. After they were shown the piles of contract agreements, they had no choice but to stay together regardless.

They never thought that being together with someone else could be so painful. Forget happiness, it was simply a torture!

At this time, both the protagonists Gong and Shou couldn’t help but think:

‘If I didn’t try to frame Qin Siyuan at the beginning, would everything not end up this way?’

But now it’s too late for them to regret anything.

No one would like to get acquainted with them everywhere.

Even now they still felt that; Obviously…obviously everything shouldn’t be like this…

References