Chapter 66

  It was only later that he found it strange, the filming location of "The Sound of Years" was an old school with a certain age, and at that time, when he and Jiang Luocheng met every night, they also chose the abandoned old teaching building in that old school - usually not to mention people, even ghosts would be disgusted by the coldness there, and even the patrolling school workers didn't often go there - but only on that night, the school worker somehow ran into that old teaching building, at that time he and Jiang Luocheng could be said to have been caught off guard...

  Yes, that's right. It was the time he stepped on Jiang Luocheng's head and jumped out of the window to escape - at that time, Jin Ran was sitting on the windowsill, so when he heard the sound of footsteps and the flashlight swaying, he almost subconsciously made such a terrible "betrayal" move, which once made Jiang Luo extremely angry.

  Now that I think about it, probably on that day, a dirty female rat secretly followed them from behind, not only hiding outside the classroom to take many photos when he and Jiang Luocheng were dating, but also notifying the school staff to catch people before leaving.

  This oil painting is probably one of the photos taken by Xu Qianqian at that time.

  No wonder she was always so nervous about her phone, even when having afternoon tea, she would nervously return to get it, and the reason for this was that her phone contained as many shameful little secrets as her fake designer handbag.

  He thought for a moment and then guessed that such an oil painting couldn't be finished in one or two days, so the oil painting covered with white cloth he had seen in Xu Qianqian's studio when he was still Hamster Ah Fei was probably this one.

  Silently cursed in his heart.

  When the young man with black hair calmly sat on the sofa to sort out his thoughts, on this side, his agent had almost gone crazy: "Xu Qianqian, what does this mean? Who is this man? Jiang Luocheng? Or Jiang Chuan? What exactly does she know - didn't they say she didn't know about you and Jiang Luocheng's affair? Ah? I'm going to die! I told you early on not to provoke her, that woman is a lunatic. Look, look, look, now it's all good?! Is it worth it for some inexplicable Hollywood extra role!!!!!!"

  After some thought, in the face of so many questions from the broker, he calmly replied: "Xu Qianqian probably watched the press conference video this morning."

  "She must have seen it!" Fang Yu's eyes widened slightly, "She must have seen through your answer to the role of 'Mysterious Seed' this afternoon, knowing that you were doing it on purpose. Otherwise, she wouldn't be so angry and openly tearing into you like this - this is trying to force you out of the closet ahhhhh!"

  In Fang Yu's roar, Jianran smiled and didn't comment. He didn't tell Fang Yu that Xu Qianqian's reaction was partly because of the incident where Jianran had gotten her face slapped due to a problem with the role in "Mysterious Seed". However, this woman was willing to put out her biggest trump card in such a half-joking manner, only after she had watched the press conference this afternoon and Jianran's last sentence "I think I'm being murdered" made her thoroughly flustered.

  After sensing the hostility from Jin Yan, she released this oil painting copied directly from a photo in a "joking" manner, which was actually a silent warning to Jin Yan... probably warning him that if he didn't behave and shut his mouth, she would turn the "joke" into a frightening "reality".

  “……”

  Thinking of this, I calmly recall from the slight surprise at the beginning of oil painting to now, and instead, my whole person has calmed down.

  A moment later, the young man with black hair forwarded Xu Qianqian's Weibo post without hesitation and also @ed Jiang Chuan, typing happily: [Someone has drawn an incredible portrait for us!]

  At this time, many fans on Weibo also forwarded it, and the attention was shifted from Xu Qianqian's previous incident. This Weibo post has a huge number of forwards, with many people commenting "Officially forcing CP to death", "I didn't recognize that person sitting by the window as Ryeo at first glance", "Xu Qianqian can actually draw", "Jiang Chuan's pampered expression is also very on point".

  Among them, there were one or two sharp-eyed people who seemed to have found something wrong and expressed their doubts.

  "It doesn't seem like Mr. Potato Chips at all."

  "This is a bit like the scene from 'The Sound of Years', this person... doesn't seem to be Jiang Chuan, but rather Jiang Luocheng."

  "What's going on upstairs in Xisi?... Xu Qianqian, are you sure this is a joke?"

  However, these few puzzled voices were soon drowned out by the excited discussions among people - Fang You's re-posting successfully made netizens temporarily let go of Xu Qianqian. Fang You thought he was scared and had no choice but to make amends with Xu Qianqian. In desperation, he also logged onto Jiang Chuan's Weibo and forwarded it again, taking the play to its end - at this time, the more you try to cover up, the more it seems like you have a problem, and it's better to be open and honest.

  Having been in the entertainment industry for so long, this rule is something that everyone, whether it's Jing Yan or Fang Yu, understands without needing to be said.

  After finishing scrolling through Weibo, Fang Yu suddenly threw his phone and asked: "What's going on between you and Jiang Luocheng!!!!!!"

  "It's just like what you see," Jian Yan shrugged, "Probably when they were on a date, Xu Qianqian took pictures of them - that's why Jiang Luocheng is now so obedient to her, following her lead and stirring up those scandals. I reckon it's also because Xu Qianqian is using these photos to threaten him."

  Fang Yu's eyes widened slightly - there was an obvious unease and fear in her eyes.

  It's clear he's worried about something other than Jiang Luocheng.

  But what he was worried about was that whether it was Jiang Luocheng or Yuan Jinyan, if one of them didn't "serve" Xu Qianqian well... Fang Yu kept repeating "You two are crazy just for a role", seeing him seemingly completely misunderstanding the severity and focus of the current situation. He patted his shoulder and sighed, deciding to mention the thing about the component in Xu Qianqian's bag, but what he didn't expect was that before he could even open his mouth, Jiang Luocheng's phone call came over from this side...

  She took a glance and hung up directly, not long after that, Xu Qianqian's phone call came in.

  This time, he accepted it calmly.

  Under the uneasy gaze of the broker, Jianran began to speak in a fairly polite tone, but as time passed, he didn't know what the person opposite him said - anyway, Fang Yu first saw the smile at the corner of the young black-haired man's mouth gradually disappear, and he responded with a low "I understand", before Fang Yu could figure out what he meant by "understand", he heard Jianran say in an extremely frightening tone -

  "Just go ahead and do it boldly, after all, the worst that can happen is that everyone will be ruined together? Oh no, I'm making enough money now to last me a lifetime, even if I get banned and retire from the industry immediately because of this, I'll still have enough to live a carefree life for the rest of my days."

  As soon as Fang Yu heard the four words "kill and retire", he sucked in a breath of cold air and was about to grab his phone, but the young man with black hair was as agile as a monkey, striding over the sofa with one long leg, while being chased by his agent from behind, running around the room in circles while making a call.

  "But it's you, isn't it, Xu Qianqian? You're probably the 'fish' in that saying. Think about it, when I'm lying on a Hawaiian beach watching hula dances and drinking fresh juice, you're probably crouched in some corner of prison crying and writing your apology letter - is this really okay?"

  On the other end of the phone, he didn't know what was being said, but Fang Yu heard a woman's shrill scream.

  He slightly narrowed his eyes: "Right, I'm just shameless like that - but at most it's just being shameless, at least I won't do things that harm others for the sake of a certain role, this is professionalism - Ah no, this has nothing to do with professional ethics anymore, it's purely human nature. The book 'The Inferior Roots of Human Nature' I recommend you take a look, maybe you can find your own position in it."

  Fang Yu, who was following behind Jian Ran's butt, heard Xu Qianqian scolding him "You have no humanity".

  "Humanness is the interactive emotions between people. When I'm facing things that aren't human, whatever you call it, that's what it is."

  She hung up the phone with a gentle smile.

  Fang Yu sat beside him, listening to the conversation in confusion, not understanding a single word. He was just sitting there stiffly, staring at Jian Yan. After hanging up the phone, Fang Yu's eyes widened as he watched Jian Yan's expression change from his previous confident and arrogant demeanor on the phone to a dark and gloomy one. He shut off his phone and slammed it onto the sofa, suddenly bursting out with a string of profanities not suitable for children!

  "I don't get it, Ran Ge, I'm calling you Ran Ge now, I really don't understand," Fang Yu said to Jin Ran who was fuming with rage, "Is it necessary for the two of you to go this far just because of a Hollywood extra? ... And even dragging me into it, believe me, exposing someone's sexual orientation at most is an invasion of privacy, it's not worth making her cry and write a confession letter in prison..."

  "Is that so?" Jian Ran said, "What about murder then?"

  "Will be shot."

  "You'll be crying and writing letters of apology before then."

  “……”

  "So, the role in 'Mysterious Seed' was just a trigger for the whole thing, but what made Xu Qianqian call and scold her like crazy wasn't because of that - being mocked by others has nothing to do with it, which star hasn't been mocked before?"

  "Don't tell me it's for Jiang Luocheng."

  "It's all said and done, let Xu Qianqian pick up this trash, I don't care."

  "But why on earth——"

  He thought for a moment, sat down on the sofa, pressed the remote control to continue playing "Republic of China Strange Record", and stared at the TV screen with his black hair and young face, asking Fang Yu: "Do you still remember that advertising component that Huatong Company couldn't find?"

  Fang Yu: "Remember, next week we'll be preparing for trial, I think our company is going to..."

  "Oh really? Then I suggest you inform the company to prepare for withdrawal of the lawsuit," Jian Yan said calmly, "I found that component in Xu Qianqian's bag."

  Fang Yu: "………What did you say?"

  Fang Yu was completely stunned, he thought if his ears had gone crazy for a second before.

  "For the song 'Who's Listening' that I sang away; for all the awards and praise I received; for the man who had a secret crush on me for seven or eight years, but was snatched away by me; and also for almost being snatched away by me, the role of Xu Qianqian in the movie 'Mysterious Seed' - 'Xu Qianqian plots to murder popular star and rival Yuan Jinyan, foiled' - hmm, compared to 'Xu Qianqian stabs Yuan Jinyan', is this headline explosive enough?"

  His entire face was about to freeze, he lowered his head, trying not to let his chin drop to the ground, took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes, then wiped the sweat on his forehead with the back of his hand: "You... me... Jian Ran——this kind of thing can't be spoken casually!!!!!!"

  "Today at the press conference, I said I was murdered, do you think I'm joking?" The young man with black hair glanced at his agent and said calmly, "When have you ever seen me joke around like this in a work setting? And recently my only entertainment activity is lying in bed watching American dramas and British dramas. When did you see me obediently pick up the brick-like Sherlock Holmes collection?"

  Fang Yu: "......"

  "It's like that."

  "But how did you know——"

  "This is a coincidence, let's just say I received enlightenment when I was with the plant people. Don't ask too much about the rest... The zero component is still with Xu Qianqian now, but if nothing unexpected happens, she might try to get rid of it tonight - At first, she didn't have time to dispose of it, and this woman's first offense, she didn't dare to dispose of it. Whether throwing it into the river or burying it in the ground, as long as an action was taken, it would be discovered. For example, on a certain day, someone unexpectedly saw the popular female star throwing something away by the river and hastily leaving?" Jian Yan sneered, "The safest way is to leave the only evidence in a visible place..."

  "What now?"

  "She must have panicked and thought that no matter how much I knew, she would think that I could report it at any time to catch her, and at this point, having such things on her was not safe."

  He stood up and grabbed the car key on the tea table.

  "Where are we going?"

  "Go and see where she threw it, can't let me end up being the scapegoat with no evidence?"

  "Then you shouldn't have told her——"

  "If I don't tell her, she'll recklessly reveal my secrets and by then, even if I report her to the police, it will be pointless... The act of 'blackmail' only makes sense when it's used to threaten someone in exchange for personal gain - right now, we're at most evenly matched, I'm not prepared to let my career be ruined by that woman, and retiring to Hawaii to watch hula dances seems a bit too early, so for now, I..."

  He was saying something while opening the door of his apartment, but before he could take a step out, his words stopped abruptly and he stood still in front of the door. He stared with slightly widened eyes, as if he had seen a ghost outside.

  "Kangawa... Kangawa?!"

  The agent sitting on the sofa also suddenly turned his head around——

  Yes, it was Jiang Chuan standing at the door.

  At this moment, the man had both hands in his pockets and stood expressionlessly in front of Jian Yan's apartment door. He slightly lowered his head to make eye contact with the slightly shorter black-haired young man, until Jian Yan somewhat composed himself from his astonishment and looked a bit at a loss as he asked him: "When did you arrive?"

  "I've been here for a while, you were having a heated discussion inside, so I didn't knock on the door." Jiang Chuan seemed to find the person in front of him reacting like this quite interesting, and replied in a calm tone while taking the car key from the stiff black-haired young man's hand. After thinking for a moment, he added without waiting for the other to ask again, "So, I heard everything that I should and shouldn't have."

  “……”

  "The soundproofing facilities are not very good, let's change the door."

  Jiang Chuan finished speaking and turned around to leave, but before he could take two steps, he was caught by Jin Ran!

  At the moment he was first touched, Jian Yan felt that his arm, which was grasped in his palm, seemed to stiffen for an instant - but very quickly, that stiffness disappeared. The person being held seemed to turn his head and look at him strangely, Jian Yan's face was slow to react, looking down at the claws holding Jiang Chuan's arm, feeling like something was off, but somehow his brain short-circuited and he didn't let go, staring with wide eyes, almost speechless: "Wh-where are you going?"

  "Xu Qianqian knows your car, and if you want to tail her, you can't use yours - besides, you just had a fight with her so she's definitely on high alert. You don't understand anything and rushing over like this will only mess things up. Stay home and wait, I'll go."

  "I'm going too!"

  "You don't go." Jiang Chuan withdrew his arm from Jian Ran's hand, stretched out his right index finger and pressed it against the forehead of the young man with black hair, using a gentle force to push him back to a safe distance away from himself. He emphasized again, "I'm going."

  Jiang Chuan suddenly descended from the sky, and with just a few words, he took charge of Xu Qianqian's affairs and left - Jiang Chuan sat back on the sofa in his house, still looking like a ghost, muttering to himself in a low voice: "What do you mean I don't understand anything and will only mess things up if I go? What does he know that I don't? ... When did he come here, this weirdo, who stands at someone's door without knocking and secretly listens at the corner of the wall?"

  Fang Yu crouched beside Jing Ran, who was also disheveled by the wind at this moment. He poked Jing Ran's arm: "How many people know about Xu Qianqian's situation?"

  "Before, there was only Xuan Xuan, then I came along, now you're here, and a few minutes ago, Jiang Chuan showed up..."

  He said with a sigh, and then sighed heavily again.

  Fang Yu also let out a deep sigh.

  Two people sat side by side on the sofa, staring blankly for a while, as the TV screen in the background played "Republic of China Strange Record" - Daoist Huaijin stepped on the red wedding veil and descended from the sky like a banished immortal, his hand holding a dao sword that drew a sword flower, rushing towards the so-called female lead Susu, when the sword "pffft" inserted into Susu's chest adorned with new bride makeup and red lips, the entire wedding hall was silent for a few seconds, then Xiao Yatou shouted "Miss!" to start, the background music started, and the whole wedding hall became chaotic...

  At the same time, the mobile phone placed quietly by his side "buzzed" with vibration. He picked it up and found a message from an unfamiliar number. After opening it, he saw that the short message only contained a few concise words: Buried in the yard, under the white flower tree.

  Staring blankly for a while, suddenly the clutter and annoyance in my heart were swept away, and I burst out laughing. My fingers danced on the phone screen as I quickly replied: That's a magnolia flower.

  There was no reply from the other side.

  Fang Yu turned his head to look at the young black-haired man beside him, who was laughing so hard that his eyes were curved like hooks. He couldn't help but ask: "You can still laugh... Ah, whose text message is this?"

  Gangchuan

  "... Fang Yu glanced at the phone in his hand, which had a Spider-Man phone case on it. He paused for a moment before asking, "Isn't this your private number's phone... how did he know your phone number?"

  “……”

  He couldn't help but laugh awkwardly.

  "Hey, that kid, who the hell is he?" Fang Yu sighed, "If he wants to, he can really get into any place."

  ……

  Very soon, Jianran and Xiu Qianqian's matter was temporarily settled.

  Because of Jianran and Jiangchuan's reposting Xu Qianqian's Weibo, the rumors about their discord with Xu Qianqian were temporarily suppressed. In this whole thing, Jianran and Xu Qianqian both got what they needed: for example, Xu Qianqian knew that she wasn't the only one who understood what she was doing, and Jianran also knew what kind of leverage Xu Qianqian had over him.

  Troubling is, these two things temporarily can't get a satisfactory solution.

  The balance was maintained at a delicate equilibrium point, stuck in place.

  It is known that before the character announcement of "Mysterious Seed", he might have been stuck in a stalemate with Xu Qianqian like this - and he had to do so. Perhaps now, the entertainment industry's attitude towards artists' sexual orientation has improved compared to decades ago, speaking out won't necessarily lead to losing one's job, but the overall environment is still harsh. A simple example: for instance, Kuaibo Film and Television might not consider using a homosexual actor as their main promoted artist.

  Unless the actor is someone they have already invested money and time in, and has some national fame - so now the top priority is to get the male lead role in "Star Fire" as soon as possible, get back on track. He had to temporarily put aside Xu Qianqian's affairs and focus his main energy on his first job after returning to the entertainment circle.

  This day was the audition day for "The Stars".

  This time, the main cast are all old-timers from Bai Wengui's era - and I heard that "Star Fire" is actually Bai Wengui's last work, after which he plans to formally retire and go watch hula dances in Hawaii... In front of these veteran seniors, Yuan Jinyan is just a newcomer, only qualified to serve tea and water, so he doesn't dare to delay, getting up early to wash and shave, almost spraying on some cologne, tidying himself up neatly and going downstairs, getting into the car, arriving at the studio half an hour before the scheduled trial shoot.

  "The photography studio of 'Chuan Na Ying Shi' is located in a grand building, and even Yuan Zhen Ran, who has come here for the first time as a staff member, can't help but feel a sense of justice and righteousness as soon as he gets out of the car. He straightens his back and feels refreshed all over, as if he wants to march in step even when walking."

  "Boss Fang, it's like this - when I stand under this building, I feel that my acting career has reached a whole new level. In the past, when watching TV dramas with scenes of tearing apart devils, I would inevitably want to mock them, but now I realize that I wasn't mocking, I was actually envious... yes, envious. Look at me standing here, I feel like I'm filled with power from head to toe, and even if it's tearing apart devils, I can do it."

  "Sorry, you're just the one who gets torn this time, even if you become a strong man, it's not your turn to tear others."

  He slightly curled up the corner of his lips, turned his head around and was about to scold Fang Yu, but as a result, he inadvertently caught sight of a tall figure wearing IM company security personnel clothes coming out of the escort car behind.

  Jian Ran: "......"

  The young man with black hair stumbled and almost fell to the ground, but the person who shocked him was quick-witted and rushed over in three strides, stretched out his hand to support him, and then opened his thin lips to say lightly: "Watch your step, stairs."

  When that low and magnetic voice sounded in her ear, she suddenly turned red from face to neck.

  "How did you get here?" he asked in a low voice to the person behind him.

  "I don't know," Jiang Chuan quickly withdrew his hand from Jin Ran's and pressed down on the brim of his hat, "The agent called me, so I came."

  "He had nothing to do today, so he's been cooped up at home all day, I'm afraid he'll get moldy, so I brought him out to experience the righteous atmosphere of Chuan Na." Fang Yu said expressionlessly, "Just come and take a look, it has nothing to do with you, don't be overly sentimental - Jiang Chuan, come and tell me, can you speak Japanese?"

  Jiang Chuan raised his eyelids and swept a glance at him, then nodded and said, "Got it."

  "Oh," Fang Yu said in surprise, "Nima is so well-versed in both literature and martial arts, what level has he reached?"

  "I used to use it when discussing business with others, and there's no problem with normal communication," said Jiang Chuan. "How?"

  Fang Yu heard this and turned his head to look at Jin Ran with a smile: "Did you hear that? There's only one person who knows Japanese, and Jiang Chuan is even more handsome than you. Act well, if you stutter and can't get it right later, I'll recommend the little backup we brought today to the director. You should have also heard those stories about celebrities being chosen after accompanying friends to auditions, huh?"

  He pursed his lips and pretended to be angry: "Are you two okay? As a junior brother, you actually want to fight with your senior brother for a rice bowl——"

  "Don't rush." Jiang Chuan slightly furrowed his brow and interrupted Jian Ran, his eyes fixed on the front. "He's just joking."

  Fang Yu smiled slyly on the side.

  Jian Ran: "......"

  Jiang Chuan was so serious that Jian Ran felt embarrassed to go along with it, and couldn't even say that he was just joking earlier... At this moment, the group got on the elevator and arrived at the designated floor, where staff members came to guide them to the rest room to prepare for the script reading and costume change. As they walked down the corridor, the walls were lined with stills and posters of various works, each one familiar to Jian Ran's ears, and he could even recall which current A-list actor rose to fame from which play...

  These people are superior to him in both seniority and wealth by who knows how many levels.

  Although to outsiders, these people may seem no different from others - or even less popular than some others, the entertainment industry is a mixed bag with distinctions between first-tier, second-tier and third-tier artists. Within this tier, there are also nuances that only insiders understand. To be able to land a role in a national drama as a first-tier artist means that one's acting skills, script foundation and sense of drama are not something that ordinary idol drama actors can match.

  This is also why when this kind of TV series is being ridiculed, it's always the script that gets criticized, never the actors - unlike some idol dramas nowadays where as soon as the male or female lead opens their mouth, the audience sitting in front of the TV can't help but feel embarrassed for them, no matter how engaging the plot is, they're seconds away from changing the channel.

  At this moment, thinking that I will be able to squeeze into the ranks of "strength faction" and leave the "Ledi" team, my heart is inevitably a little excited. After arriving at the location, I smiled and greeted the staff one by one, then eagerly rushed into the dressing room to change into the costumes for the play.

  He has played so many roles, students, urban white-collar workers, ancient kings, even a little eunuch, he has played them all. He has worn countless costumes, but somehow, he has never properly worn a military uniform... Now, with black heavy boots on his feet and a shit-yellow big hat on his head, the only comforting thing is that there's no stupid curtain hanging from the back of the hat, just an ordinary hat; a shit-yellow devil officer uniform, with a black belt tied around his waist - Jian Yan lifted his head to look in the mirror, and he almost didn't recognize himself.

  Handsome.

  Handsome.

  Cool.

  I'm so used to it myself that I've almost gotten numb to it.

  In the mirror, the young man with black hair and a slightly thinner waist due to the recent weight loss was set off by the belt, making it look even more slender. The military uniform made of stiff fabric accentuated his physique... His newly cut crew-cut black hair went well with the uniform, looking spirited and standing upright in front of the mirror, admiring himself for a while, feeling more and more handsome. After a moment, he couldn't help but feel a bit down, thinking that if he were wearing the military uniform, it would look better than the yellow color of the enemy's excrement.

  Alright then.

  Damn it, although I've made countless mental preparations... but... as expected, I still don't want to play a Japanese devil.

  When he walked out of the fitting room, there were already some staff members in the rest area. As they looked at the young man with black hair walking out of the fitting room, the originally lively rest area became slightly quieter for a moment. A female colleague who knew Jian Ran let out a "wow" and then covered her mouth with her hand, her face flushing bright red. After a brief silence, the crowd finally returned to their previous liveliness.

  At that moment, Jian Ran was still lowering his head to adjust his belt and didn't notice anything unusual. As a result, when he raised his head, he saw Jiang Chuan talking to Fang Yu outside - at this time, he had already changed out of the security uniform and was wearing an ordinary T-shirt and pants. It seemed that he heard Jian Ran coming out and paused in his speech, subconsciously raising his head to take a glance.

  The result was that he slightly stunned, then thoroughly turned his head around, a pair of azure eyes staring at the waist of a black-haired young man standing not far away, and then slightly moved down to sweep over his straight legs, before returning to his waist again, never moving away.

  In an instant, he slightly furrowed his brow, and a hint of displeasure appeared on that face devoid of emotion.

  At this time, the black-haired young man who was stared at with such eyes still seemed completely unaware, put on that yellowish-brown big hat, stood in place and turned around, asking "Does it look good?" "Does it look good?", when his inquiry continued to "Is the butt cocked or not", before the agent had a chance to say a few nice words, Jiang Chuan, who had been sitting silently throughout, suddenly said out of nowhere: "This outfit is really ugly."

  He was taken aback for a moment.

  Fang Yu was also stunned, looking puzzled as he turned his head to look at Jiang Chuan: "It's not ugly, although the color is a bit off, but this style and all, it looks pretty good on you——look at that small waist..."

  "Ugly." Jiang Chuan said expressionlessly and stubbornly, "Not suitable, doesn't look good."

  He stood there silently, and the atmosphere on the scene was so awkward that it could be squeezed out of water.