Chapter 69

  There are some things that only need to be said to those who understand. Those who do get it will naturally understand, while those who don't or refuse to listen won't be convinced no matter how hard you try to persuade them...

  It makes sense in theory, but it's actually quite difficult to put into practice and completely ignore those rumors.

  After sending Jiang Chuan and Fang Yu away, the house suddenly became quiet. Originally, Fang Yu wanted to stay and accompany Jian Ran, but Jian Ran thought about it and refused him - at first he made this decision because he felt that he had not encountered such things before, so now he should be able to deal with it alone.

  But soon he found out that he wasn't as cool as he thought he was.

  He was very clear about how important this opportunity given by Guan Na was to him. Perhaps if he had jumped out and announced that he would give up the role voluntarily, whether it was for Li Rui's attack or his own attack, it might have subsided immediately - but after hesitating for half a day, he found that he didn't have the courage at all: just like a bear standing in front of a jar full of honey, what reason do you have to stop it from trying this jar of honey that has been expected for nearly half its life?

  Missed it, don't know when the next chance will come.

  Don't even know if it will come again or not.

  As soon as he calmed down, his mind started to wander. For the entire evening, he was stuck in a cycle of "suddenly understanding" and "suddenly not understanding", struggling back and forth until midnight. The young man with black hair lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling. When the 9,873rd sheep in his mind bleated and squeezed into the flock, he fell silent for three seconds. He then threw off his covers, got out of bed, grabbed his phone, and sent a text message to Fang Yu.

  Caution: A multiple-choice question, choose one: Option 1: Announce on Weibo that I'm withdrawing from the casting of "Star Fire" and beg for mercy from all of you; Option 2: Go out and have some fun, get drunk and sing loudly.

  After sending the message, he got Fang Yu's reply within about thirty seconds. When he opened the message, there were only two concise words inside:

  Fang Yu: Go and play.

  He felt like he had gotten the answer he wanted, let out a long sigh and put down his phone. He quickly rolled into the bathroom to take a shower, blow-dried his hair and put on a wig that was slightly longer than his usual short hair, similar to those popular among Korean male celebrities. He wore black-framed glasses and changed into loose pants and a large shirt - something "Yuan Jinran" would never normally wear. When everything was ready, the young man with black hair carefully looked at himself in the mirror and was very satisfied to find that the wig had played an amazing role: now he looked stupid and timid, like a nerd who had just been kicked out of the house and forced to go clubbing on a blind date.

  Before leaving, Jianran habitually picked up his car key from the table - but when changing shoes, he suddenly thought of Jiang Chuan's words "driving your car will be recognized" and turned back to put the key away. After rummaging through the cupboard, he finally found another dusty key under the tea table - unlike the luxury car Jianran drives now, this one was bought with his first salary as a second lead in a play thirteen years ago.

  After all these years, Jianyan now has enough money to buy anything he wants, including cars of any brand. In fact, his garage is filled with several luxury vehicles that would make ordinary men jealous - if not for the sudden urge to experience nightlife today, Jianyan had almost forgotten about their existence.

  However, paradoxically, when Jian Ran grasped the car key in his hand on the day he went to pick up the car, his excited and uncontrollable mood suddenly became crystal clear in his heart... Along with this, memories burst forth like a floodgate opening, the first time entering the entertainment circle, the first time having his own agent, the first time receiving a role with lines, the first time playing a proper second male lead...

  He vividly remembers how content and satisfied he was at the time, every opportunity that came his way was a blessing, everyone who gave him a chance was a benefactor, and every day was filled with purpose and anticipation for the future. As for when this "contentment" began to change, it's not quite clear; nor is it remembered exactly which day it started, no longer naively thinking that everything happening to himself was a miracle and good fortune, calmly thinking about whether he had what the other party needed in the contract with him, and starting to learn how to haggle and gain the greatest benefit.

  At first, the "original intention" for this acting career had less fun and more responsibility.

  For example, if it were in the past, Yuan Jinyan might have followed his own personality, explained everything clearly and then announced that he would give up the role of Chuan Na, giving himself a cool exit... But now, whether to take on this role seems to be no longer a matter for "Yuan Jinyan" alone. His agent, his boss, even all the employees in the entire brokerage firm behind him, can they eat meat every night? These trivial matters seem to have been pressed upon him instantly.

  He carefully went downstairs, reversed the dusty black Volkswagen out of the garage. At this time, his mobile phone in his pocket vibrated again. He took it out and looked at it, and found that it was Fang Yu again. The broker said: Be careful not to be photographed by the paparazzi, have fun, I am working overtime at the company now, and I will definitely get things done before sunrise tomorrow.

  Hmm.

  Yes, it is like that.

  He Yu Jianran is the vanguard, all external damage must be borne by him - and as his teammate, at this moment, the company's team is also working tirelessly in the background to make plans, trying to win this game... This is a very simple truth: if t falls, exposing the resources behind, then waiting for them is only annihilation, and then it's all over.

  In the end, everyone goes home and eats by themselves.

  After some careful consideration, I was thinking about how to respond to this message when another piece of information came in.

  "Did I leave my wallet at your place? Can I come over and get it now?"

  It's Jiang Chuan.

  He didn't even notice that Jiang Chuan's wallet had appeared on the sofa or somewhere... And what was this guy doing, rummaging through his wallet at home for no reason? It was too strange! Zhen Ran was puzzled and couldn't figure it out. He put aside the unread message from the broker and stopped the car by the roadside in the neighborhood. With a flurry of keystrokes, he typed out a message to Jiang Chuan saying that he wasn't home at the moment and was about to go out and play, asking if he could come pick up his wallet tomorrow... After thinking for half a day and finally editing the message, he regretted it again at the last minute before sending it. He deleted the content of the message and simply replied: "I'm sleeping, got a cucumber mask on my face, can you come back tomorrow?"

  The term "cucumber mask" seems to have caused quite a shock, and it took Jiang Chuan ten minutes to calm down - anyway, by the time he carefully stopped the car in front of the nightclub, the other party finally sent over an extremely calm "oh".

  He carefully put his mobile phone into his pocket.

  Walked into the nightclub with head held high and chest out.

  ……

  If one had to find a place that was lively and bustling to distract themselves from their thoughts on a lonely, quiet, and cold night, then these nightlife spots would probably be the best choice - although such noisy places might seem a bit unsuitable for someone like him who is prematurely aging mentally. And since it's almost common knowledge in the industry that Yuan Jin Yan dislikes all noisy entertainment venues, this place was safe for him at this moment, because probably no reporter would think that Yuan Jin Yan would be stimulated to run to his most hated place to seek solace.

  The last time someone invited Jin Yan to such an entertainment venue was during the filming of "The Sound of Years", when Jin Yan refused without hesitation, citing a cold as an excuse. The price he paid for living such a cold and noble old life ahead of schedule was that his boyfriend of more than half a year quietly got into another woman's bed.

  Alright, don't think about these things anymore.

  Let those little rascals and dogs be together forever, what can you do about it?

  Tonight is for relaxation.

  Not here to make trouble for myself.

  He forced his mind to stop its weird expansion, and at this time, others also stepped into the hall with one foot - to be honest, he himself had almost forgotten when he last came to a nightclub to play seriously, if he really wanted him to say an accurate and true date, the answer he could give might only be in his previous life (......).

  To sum up, today started off on the wrong foot.

  When this big star, who is already an antique in thought, stepped into the nightclub, he was immediately startled by the DJ's loud shouting and his eyebrows were tightly furrowed. When the DJ was enthusiastically singing "The sun comes out and I climb the mountain slope, yy, when I reach the top of the mountain, I want to sing a song, yyy", a waiter came up and carefully gestured with his hands and feet.

  The waiter's voice was so low that he couldn't hear clearly, so he slightly narrowed his eyes, bent down and leaned close to the waiter's ear: "Huh?"

  The waiter continued to gesticulate wildly with his hands and feet, his expression and the degree of his mouth opening showing that he was making a great effort to shout loudly.

  "Sing the song for that sister to listen, listening to my heart is yo inside a dui, y! My mouth is chewing big bubble gum, y, my heart is thinking of Japanese flower girl! y! Everyone below, let's get excited! y!"

  He glanced up at the DJ on the top floor of the dance pool, who was in high spirits, turned his head, pushed his glasses closer to the waiter and said, "I couldn't hear what you were saying at all. Can you ask your DJ to turn it down a bit?"

  Such demands in nightclubs are somewhat arbitrary.

  So the answer is no.

  Finally, through primitive gestures and mouth shapes, he vaguely understood that the server was asking if he had a reserved seat. After shaking his head honestly, he followed the server to a relatively quiet spot he requested - such complex requirements couldn't be fulfilled by just gesturing, so he cleverly pulled out his phone's notes app and typed it out for the server to see. Seeing the server's suddenly enlightened face, his slightly depressed mood improved: He felt like he had done something incredibly clever.

  He considered leaving a letter in the suggestion box for the boss of this nightclub before he left, emphasizing how important it is to provide each service staff with a PD to communicate with customers.

  Of course, assuming that nightclubs would also have such an outdated thing as a "suggestion box".

  He sat down in a slightly quieter high-end VIP seat, and the waiter politely mentioned that there was a minimum order and asked if he needed to find someone to accompany him. It took him three seconds to realize that "accompany" meant finding one of those resident hostesses that all nightclubs have to keep him company. He shook his head in refusal, and in order to meet the minimum order, he ignored the waiter's strange gaze and randomly ordered a bunch of drinks by himself, handing over the order book to the waiter.

  He believed that when he checked the wine list from head to toe, the waiter must have secretly sighed in his heart: idiot.

  It doesn't matter, there are probably many people scolding him tonight, and it's all right if I don't join in.

  No pain no itch.

  Wait patiently for your own wine to arrive, and in the process of waiting, take a look at the group of demons dancing wildly in the dance pool - it's really a group of demons dancing wildly, I don't know if the DJ of this house is always like this or tonight's DJ has a unique style. When the drinks ordered by Jianran were all delivered, the time pointed to 1:30 in the morning - at this time when primary school students are sleeping, the DJ started singing "The sun shines brightly, flowers smile at me, little birds say early early early why do you have explosives on your back".

  To be honest, when I heard this, I actually thought of reporting it to the police for harming a minor.

  If this isn't thunder.

  Then a breathtaking scene appeared. The DJ suddenly stopped singing halfway, and with a sudden burst of energy, he shouted: "You guys down there, come on!"

  The crowd below the dance pool shouted in unison: "I'm going to blow up the school, the principal doesn't know!"

  DJ put down his arm, picked up the microphone, and with a flourish of Bara Bara's magic wand, he swung it around in a circle, raised his thumb to his lips: "One pull, I'll run!"

  Put the microphone flat and aim at the people in the dance pool below.

  People in the dance pool: "Hush! The school is gone, no birds!"

  The piece ended, and the crowd cheered, twisted, applauded, and was enthusiastic.

  Jian Ran: "…………………………"

  I really feel like I've wasted being a star.

  Today, just today, in this nightclub whose name he can't even remember, he truly understood what it means to have charisma - compared to this DJ who is so awesome that he's transcending the sky, Yuan Jin Yan's bit of charm is simply child's play, not even worth looking at... Hmm, even Bai Wen Qi teacher would probably cry and beg to polish this great god DJ's shoes.

  When the young man with black hair stared at the stage with a look of nostalgia, the DJ started singing "Shu ke shu ke shu ke da fei ji de shu ke" while tapping his feet. At this time, the waiter who was also filled with nostalgia brought over a large plate of colorful drinks. Seeing those colorful drinks, Jian Ran suddenly felt that he could summon the DJ dragon.

  Uh, sorry about that, I've been had.

  Expressionless, he grabbed the blue cup in front of him, which was a mixture of unknown liquor and drink, and poured it into his mouth. As the spicy liquid slid down his throat, the faint aroma of blueberry spread between his lips and teeth, and his scalp felt comfortable and numb. The young man with black hair let out a long sigh of relief, leaning his head against the soft sofa and closing his eyes slightly, feeling a rush of hot blood: just one more cup, he thought to himself, and he would be ready to storm onto the stage and blow up that professional DJ who had ruined his childhood for three hundred years.

  Just as this idea was getting more and more intense and couldn't be stopped, Jian Ran was seriously considering using this method to replace the lead writer of "Star Fire" tomorrow.

  The style of painting on stage suddenly changed.

  The elementary school student DJ went home after work to do his homework.

  The table was quiet for three seconds, and then suddenly touched a large pile of white smoke, accompanied by the flashing neon lights, the stage was shrouded in a mysterious atmosphere like that of a 1980s Shanghai dance hall... The young man with black hair sitting on the sofa lazily lifted his eyelids and took a glance. At this moment, he found that from the dimly lit backstage, a young man with an extremely slender figure but unusually tall walked up.

  Yes, saying he is young is not an exaggeration at all ——

  He even thought he was a young man who didn't deserve to enter entertainment venues.

  At least people of this age would not allow themselves to wear such a suffocating tight leather jacket and pants, appearing anywhere except their own husband's bed.

  The stage was shrouded in mist, the nightclub's lights were dim, and Yuan Jin Yan squinted his eyes with great effort to notice that the young man's hair was still dyed a bright red - when he stepped onto the stage, the heavy metal punk boots on his feet made a "slapping" sound, tightly wrapping around him, revealing his perfect figure without reservation. The leather jacket reflected the light of the stage, and at this moment, not to mention Yuan Jin Yan, even the people below the dance floor were stunned in place.

  His butt is very perky.

  His shoulders are very wide.

  His waist is very narrow.

  His legs are very long.

  His body proportions are so perfect that they defy scientific logic, as if he were a two-dimensional creature from a comic book.

  Sitting on the sofa, pinching his black hair, the young man subconsciously raised his hand to touch his lips, confirming that no snot was flowing out. After that, he silently imagined Jiang Chuan's figure again - and was relieved to find that his heart still belonged to Jiang Mingyue, and had not casually strayed to the person in front of him...

  Sexy ditch.

  At this moment.

  No opening remarks, no rousing speeches; before anyone had a chance to react, the background music started playing.

  The familiar tune made Jian Ran slightly stunned, he didn't expect that this nightclub would play even the famous song "Opera II" by VTs, a well-known male singer from Ma Xiong country, after playing various children's songs... He picked up the cup in front of him, which still had liquor in it, and took a small sip, his interest slightly piqued. As he sat up straight, he made another surprising discovery - this nightclub was really going all out with their performance, not only did they have someone fake-singing VTs' song, but they even found a... foreigner to fake-sing.

  Deep facial features half-hidden in the shadows, it's hard to see clearly what the red-haired boy standing on the stage looks like at this moment, and can only be guessed from the expressions of those little girls in the dance pool below that the boy is probably very handsome...

  No matter what, he always had a feeling that the other person was pretending to be mysterious and hiding his mistakes - just like Yuan Jin Yan - such thoughts suddenly emerged, which was quite strange and abrupt. Jin Yan calmed down, realizing that the wine had affected his judgment, put down the cup in his hand, sat more steadily, and smiled as he waited for the young man's fake singing.

  The opening of "Opera II" is smooth, light and jumping. Under the gaze of a young black-haired man, only a red-haired boy standing on the stage brought the microphone to his lips, and in the midst of the misty disguise, those thin lips slightly hooked up, singing out the first line of lyrics——

  A perfect start.

  The opening of "Opera II" has everything it should have.

  From emotion, to rhythm, to singing skills.

  Perfectly like... just lip-syncing.

  Apart from being a bit noisy on site and sounding a bit strange and different from what I heard before.

  Jǐn rán:“…………”

  becomes:

  Quietly:"............"

  Of course, what can you expect from a nightclub like this, some kind of earth-shattering deity?

  He couldn't help but feel a little disappointed as he leaned back into the sofa, his seat was in a relatively front row position, and he wasn't sure if his actions had been seen by the young man on stage - anyway, as he reached out to grab his wine glass, he felt like the person on stage had tilted their head slightly towards him, but before Jian Ran could get a clear look at whether or not they were actually looking in his direction, the young man had already straightened their head back up again.

  It's probably just an illusion.

  Under the eyelids, there is a group of turbulent and surging hot girls. In such a shaking situation, this little boy has nothing to do but watch an old uncle like me doing something stupid.

  Serious and expressionless thinking.

  At this time, as the song progressed to its first half, the red-haired youth on stage suddenly switched the microphone from his right hand to his left with a large motion. His arms shook at the same time, and four white misty sprays burst out from above the stage! The high-pitched part that spanned five octaves and made VTS himself become the legendary "Dolphin Prince" appeared -

  As perfect as in memory.

  He closed his eyes and leaned back on the sofa, having just been traumatized by a series of children's songs. At this moment, he couldn't help but feel that good songs are indeed good songs, they don't need lyrics, and the simple melody has the power to strike people's hearts. Even in the chaotic nightclub at this moment, perfect songs can still show their original shocking power without being affected.

  He opened his eyes to find, not unexpectedly, the young people in the dance pool beginning to twist their bodies, on the stage, the red-haired boy holding the microphone properly pulled open or shortened the distance between his lips and the microphone, making the entire high-pitched part appear with a staggered and coherent stage effect.

  Wait a minute.

  Wait wait wait wait wait wait.

  “……………………………………”

  The young black-haired man sitting on the sofa slightly widened his eyes.

  He didn't quite understand the singing aspect, but for that song "Who's Listening", he also received a month of professional training. This month of professional training wasn't enough to teach him too much, but considering that in the future when promoting the movie, he might be asked to sing live again, his instructor specifically taught him ways to accurately grasp how to avoid being accused of lip-syncing.

  If it's a lip-sync playback recording, then the entire singing process is perfect, and the performance is excellent, just like in a recording studio.

  However, if it's a live performance, the effect of singing will definitely be different from that in a recording studio. Accompanied by the performer's movements - whether dancing or adjusting the microphone position, the sung song will undergo some changes, possibly bringing some breath sounds, and may simply emit loud and soft sounds due to the movement of the microphone position.

  This is also why so many singers like to subconsciously move their microphones when singing live.

  At this moment, the red-haired boy did the same thing.

  What's even more shocking is that the song "Opera II", which was thought to be a recording from start to finish, actually underwent extremely fitting changes because of his small actions...

  He is a real singer.

  He is a real singer.

  He! Is! True! Sing!

  At this time, in this place, in this environment, a red-haired young man who looked like he wasn't old enough to eat this bowl of rice, with an astonishing expression, calmly sang a song that surpassed the god's standard.

  If he were to participate in "The Voice of China", those coaches' chairs would probably all turn for him.

  He covered his chest with a solemn expression, feeling that he needed to calm down - so, after the climax of the song passed, the song once again entered the gentle part where he had previously thought "the sound quality is different from the recording" and sent Fang Yu a text message: A miracle has appeared here.

  Fang Yu almost immediately replied: What the heck? Have you seen someone more handsome than Jiang Chuan? Are you going to leave the group? Do you want to bid farewell to being a boy? Should I prepare red bean soup for you?

  Get out.

  What's going on?

  A young kid who hasn't come of age yet sang "Opera II" to a fake-singing level.

  Fang Yu Hui: How is that possible? It seems like you haven't drunk less, and can't even tell the difference between fake singing and real singing. The teacher who taught you these skills would cry themselves to death in the bathroom.

  Replied solemnly: ……

  Fang Yu Hui: Are you driving tonight? Tell me the address and I'll send someone to pick you up. Don't drive, okay? Do you still remember that foreign guy who was in a vegetative state after being rescued? He's an example of what happens when you don't follow traffic rules. You don't want to end up like him again, do you? This story tells us that we must obey the law and traffic regulations. If we break them, it won't just be a matter of losing points or paying fines. People who disobey the law will absolutely not have a good ending.

  Replied solemnly: ……

  Fang Yu Hui: Address, I'll go pick you up in a bit. Tomorrow early morning, I still need to sneak into your courtyard to steal some roses and beg for forgiveness.

  “……”

  Staring at the screen of his phone for fifteen seconds, on the sixteenth second, the young man with black hair, who was already slightly drunk, relied on a surge of courage and impulsiveness given by alcohol to decisively put the phone into his pocket... After completing a series of actions, he pursed his lips and couldn't help but raise his head again to look at the boy on stage. This time, through the crowd, his gaze coincidentally collided with that of the red-haired boy.

  It seems that neither of them had expected the other to look at them like this, so both were slightly stunned. The person who was originally calmly singing on stage also paused for a moment due to the unexpected lyrics, but he quickly regained his composure and continued with the song using his excellent reaction ability that wasn't noticeable if one didn't pay close attention.

  However, from then on, his eyes never left her calm face again.

  The kid, in this bright and upright way, stared at the black-haired young man sitting below the stage, his evil smile retracted, and sang the whole song with a blank expression - it has to be said that when he was expressionless, his gaze seemed to become even more ferocious, although the light was dim and it was hard to see what he looked like. Nevertheless, this boy still managed to make him feel invaded.

  Like a beast.

  Makes people feel uneasy.

  It's as if in the next second, with just a moment of carelessness, he would be skinned and disembowelled, swallowed whole.

  Such eyes seem familiar.

  But... where exactly have I seen it before?

  With thoughts on the matter, he picked up the third glass of wine beside him, regardless of whether it was a red wine that needed to be savored or something else. He tilted his head back and drank it down in one gulp - as the smooth wine flowed through his throat, it brought numbness to his mind, making his brain unable to think about why he was sitting here tonight and what he was worried about, and even forgot what he was thinking about a second ago. Jian Yan lowered his head, staring at the crack on the corner of the table in front of him, muttering to himself: "That gaze, where have I seen it before?"

  ……

  "My god, headache."

  The answer is: I completely can't remember.