Chapter Seventy-Three

  Jiang Chuan finally got up to send Jin Ran to the company, and even got off halfway to buy him breakfast. With a deep expression, he said: "You worked hard last night, so please take good care of yourself today and wish you good luck."

  Above.

  Of course, they're all fake.

  It turns out that everything that happens in girls' comics doesn't happen in reality, reality is quietly getting up from the bed and going to the bathroom to take a lonely bath, coming out wrapped in the owner's bath towel, while the owner of the house is turning over on the bed and grumbling with a voice full of sleepiness and impatience, telling him where the clothes are that can be changed into, quietly opening the drawer, and indeed seeing a lot of singles dog official matches: a whole drawer of new underwear.

  He casually picked out a pair of clothes to wear, then found Jiang Chuan's shirt and jeans to put on. After dressing neatly in front of the mirror, he caught sight of the man sleeping soundly on the bed behind him, his back rising and falling with each breath in the soft morning light filtering through the window - just like a leopard lurking in the darkness. He rarely saw Jiang Chuan go to the gym, but this guy's physique was as good as a fitness coach.

  I thought for a moment and said, "You bit my lip."

  Jiang Chuan: “......”

  Jiang Xiansen?

  A pillow flying horizontally from the bed replaced "Giang Xiansen" for his slow and hesitant response.

  He went downstairs to find his car, sat in and called Fang Yu while discussing the issue with him. The first reaction from the other end was quite sharp: "What happened between you two last night?"

  Said with a smile: "Doing what I love."

  On the other end of the phone was a long silence. The adorable agent looked at him with such conviction that he finally softened and said, "I'm kidding."

  Only half done.

  It seems that Fang Yu let out a sigh of relief on the other end, and then seriously answered the previous question about Jiang Chuan's physique: "Because he doesn't eat sweets that make you gain weight, and wasn't hit by an advertising board and hospitalized for half a year like his competitor."

  "Don't mock me, thank you. I had to drive myself to the company early in the morning, and I'm already very wronged," Jian Ran said. "Although it's likely that from now on my position will be just a popular idol with no further development, isn't being a popular idol still an idol? Isn't being the 'one brother' in girls' hearts still 'one brother'? Can you all treat me so negligently? I'm not even dead yet, and you won't even send a driver - heaven! Talking about this makes me feel so wronged that I don't want to go to the company. Tell Luo Cheng that our friendship has reached its end."

  "No one came to pick you up because the whole company was up all night discussing how to wipe your butt clean and beautifully - is friendship at an end? It's as if this thing ever existed, unless you're willing to pay that eight-figure penalty, you can fly freely now."

  There are still fifteen minutes until I arrive at the company.

  "Hurry up."

  The phone was hung up, and he calmly waited for the red light to pass under the eyes of the traffic police uncle, driving at a slow pace. After turning a corner, he changed his calm demeanor and accelerated, arriving at the company within 10 minutes. As he passed by the company's garden area, the young man with black hair saw that many reporters were waiting outside, but fortunately, his car was very low-key and didn't attract attention, so the reporters didn't notice him. He drove around in a circle and entered the parking lot from the back, turned off the engine, and sat calmly in the car for 10 minutes. The result of this 10-minute calmness was that when he opened the door to get out, his mood had already sunk to the bottom.

  Some things you always desperately try to escape from, but in the end you still have to face.

  Taking the direct elevator from the parking lot to the top floor of the company, as soon as the elevator door opened, he bumped into Fang Yu waiting at the door. The two exchanged a glance, and the agent asked: "What's wrong with your mouth?"

  "After some thought, he replied, 'The chicks in nightclubs are a bit too hot.'"

  He made a facial expression of distaste, indicating his opinion on the response. Then, with a calm face, he told the young man with black hair: "To put it simply, I logged into your Weibo account half an hour ago and posted a statement. The reaction is okay so far. The good news is that some people who thought you intentionally released the message to show off and get attention have toned down their criticism. The bad news is that there are still people who think you've lost control of the situation and are now pretending to be innocent. The not-so-good news is that everyone is saying this is a collaboration between you and Teacher Li Rui to promote 'Star Fire'. This kind of talk has been going on since last night, and it seems like the voices have grown louder. So, five minutes before you arrived, Teachers Li Rui, Bai Yan Ge, and Chuan Na had already made contact with each other."

  He nodded and took two steps back, realizing the meaning of Fang Yu's last sentence. He felt a bit weak in the legs - not that he was afraid, but now he really didn't know how to face Teacher Li Rui. As for what had happened online, he hadn't gone to look, but he was also very clear about how vicious those people who hid behind their screens and scolded others could be, and all of this was because of him.

  "Don't think about it so seriously, and don't feel guilty." Before walking into the office, Fang Yu reminded Jian Ran lightly behind him, "From start to finish, you didn't do anything wrong."

  He nodded slightly and pushed open the door with a rather complicated mood.

  The atmosphere in the office seemed okay, with the person in charge of Chuona and Luo Cheng chatting and laughing. Teacher Li Rui was sitting on the side drinking tea and eating breakfast, while Bai Yan Ge teacher frowned as if saying something to him. When Jianran walked in, the office fell silent for a few seconds. Jianran wasn't unfamiliar with big scenes, but this momentary silence made him feel uneasy all of a sudden. He didn't know what to think, so he stood up straight, bowed his waist, and respectfully saluted in the direction where Li Rui was sitting, saying "Teacher, I'm sorry."

  Everyone: "......"

  Li Rui maintained the posture of holding chopsticks with a small steamed bun at his mouth for three seconds. On the fourth second, he cleared his throat and put down the chopsticks, then said: "Good morning."

  Jian Ran: "......"

  Fang Yu poked Jian Ran's waist with his hand from behind, meaning "what the hell are you selling", then calmly brushed past him and walked to the center, pulled out the chair belonging to Jian Ran, and signaled with his eyes for him to come over and sit down. Jian Ran walked over with a wooden face, greeted everyone present one by one, and then sat down with a thud.

  The leader on the other side of the river still had a smile on his face, turned around and said to Jingran: "Jingran, actually you don't have to be so tense. Yesterday, your company also called us overnight to explain that it was a misunderstanding. Later, I also heard from Teacher Bai that you personally called Teacher Li to apologize, which is very good! Isn't that right? We won't admit our mistakes if they're not ours, but 'being responsible for one's actions and taking responsibility' - you've done well in this regard...

  He listened carefully, his heart still racing with anxiety. He couldn't quite figure out whether the leader was genuinely trying to comfort him or if there was a hidden meaning behind his words - whether he truly meant that what he did was okay, or if he was secretly mocking him for not feeling guilty and making the call in the first place... He just didn't get it at all.

  At this time, the leader of the Communist Party of China continued to say: "Later, according to my understanding of the situation, I heard that it was the teacher's lover who answered the phone, right? I have already told him about this situation. This old man is just a bit stubborn. I said, how can you not answer the phone? This will make people very uneasy. How can we clarify things and give new people an opportunity..."

  Li Rui grunted, but didn't immediately retort. Although his face wasn't looking good, it was clear that he wasn't as angry about the matter as before. He just muttered, "You don't know how badly those young people cursed." He carefully raised his hand and wiped away the sweat on his forehead without leaving any marks. The heart that had been hanging in suspense since the beginning finally fell slightly, and then he apologized again.

  The person in charge of Chuan Na saw that the atmosphere between Li Rui and Jin Ran had improved a bit, and he also seemed to have let out a sigh of relief. Then, he changed the subject and said: "I had someone count earlier, now on the internet, the voices scolding you two have decreased somewhat. It can be said that the effect of the statement you released this morning is still pretty good. The main problem now is... Ah, some people are saying that we Chuan Na are hyping things up..."

  At this time, he slightly calmed down and turned to the person in charge: "I've also heard a bit about this matter. Although we haven't cooperated before, I've always looked forward to having the opportunity to work with your company, so I have some understanding of your situation. I know that Chuan Na has never liked to promote his film and television works through hype on any media platform. Although it's true that such situations do exist in the current film and television circle... but for this cooperation, I promise that my company and I are being very careful and haven't made any plans in this regard. In fact, we wouldn't be able to guide public opinion to attack Chuan Na's leadership and crew members before my role is even decided..."

  He paused for a moment, realizing that the entire office had fallen silent as if everyone was listening to him intently. The three IM bosses also looked slightly more pleasant, and he guessed that he hadn't said anything wrong, so he continued speaking.

  "This matter is probably entirely directed at me personally, so I'm very sorry that Professor Li Rui was also implicated as a result."

  Everyone's gaze turned to Li Rui again, he had been in this circle for so many years and had seen all sorts of people, who was sincere and who wasn't, he could more or less tell. At this time, with a cautious attitude and tone that were extremely sincere, his facial expression also relaxed slightly, waving his hand and saying: "Lao Bai told me about these things, I don't understand your online stuff, so I was angry last night, now that it's out in the open, it's fine. Jian Ran, if I may say so, you're not a bad actor either, if you had started developing in Chuan Na from the beginning, you would have definitely achieved more than today's results and wouldn't have suffered so many ups and downs..."

  Could only smile wryly.

  The leader of the group, who was also a personal assistant, spoke in a calm and collected tone after apologizing profusely, saying: "Although this incident has caused great inconvenience to everyone, from a certain perspective, it has indeed increased the popularity of our upcoming play..."

  He slightly curled up the corner of his lips, just about to say something, but saw the other party wave their hand at him and continue on.

  "Although we, Chuan Na, have never used this kind of publicity before, it's also a case of 'accidental success'. Don't worry, our company basically knows that you are very popular among young people. Although Chuan Na focuses more on your personal professional level, since we've used you, we're not unprepared for something like this to happen..."

  The rest of the matter doesn't need to be said, Kunna's side has reached an agreement with IM company and they will jointly respond to the water army. At the same time, Kunna brought a contract which was signed directly, and this contract is considered settled.

  It all worked out in the end.

  The thing that had tormented him all night was finally resolved, and as he walked out of the company at noon, he felt that the outside sunlight was dazzling, and nothing seemed to be a problem anymore. He happily called Jiang Chuan, who was still sleeping in on the other end. After answering the phone with a gruff "hello", Jianran quickly recounted all the events of the day before even getting a chance to speak, and then invited him out for lunch. Hearing only silence from the other end, he asked, "Why aren't you congratulating me?"

  On the other end of the phone, there was probably a few more seconds of silence, and then the sound of someone lifting their quilt could be heard. Jiang Chuan asked a very meaningful question: "Don't you have any other friends?"

  I was taken aback for a moment, and then my anger was ignited by the other person's "you're so pitiful" tone: "Bullshit! Do you want to see the messages of concern from my friends and family from all over the world on my phone last night? Wang Mo knows me, he stopped filming halfway through last night to call me and ask what was going on; Yao Wen definitely knows too, he's in Europe with a huge time difference but still remembered to send me a WeChat message to comfort me; He Dada and Niu Niu you should know too, they're children's TV hosts who have transitioned to the entertainment industry, the male and female gods in the eyes of young fans. You should see how they accompanied me in mocking those black materials yesterday, the chat records would shatter the three views of primary school students! Ah K knows too, the Asian pop king, he took a break from his global concert to send me a text message to comfort me during the costume change. Do you know how busy a concert is? Do you know?!

  Jiang Chuan: "In the end, you still got drunk alone and were sent back to my home by a stranger."

  Jian Ran: ".................................................."

  "Yuan Jinyan, can't you have some self-awareness as a normal person? Yesterday, the two of us rolled around on the bed sheet all night, emphasizing that it was inexplicably entwined... The few months I spent gazing at your remains in the hospital bed don't count, how long have we known each other? Is it even a month?

  Jiang Chuan's voice came from what sounded like the bathroom, "I haven't figured out how to normally face you next, and you're calling me like nothing's wrong, asking me to join you for lunch... Now, let me ask you a question, Yuan Jinyan."

  Jian Ran: "Huh?"

  Jiang Chuan: "When we're eating lunch face-to-face, you see the hickey on my neck that you left, don't you feel embarrassed?"

  Jian Ran: "How about we be together?"

  Jiang Chuan: “......”

  "It's like we part ways after lunch."

  Jiang Chuan responded with a cold laugh.

  Jiang Chuan's words made Jin Ran feel embarrassed and anxious, he scratched his head and suddenly started humming a tune. Jiang Chuan seemed to be shocked by this and didn't say anything. Jin Ran heard the sound of running water from the other end of the phone, probably Jiang Chuan had turned on the showerhead in the bathroom. So Jin Ran stopped singing and tried to make an ending: "Being said so, it seems a bit embarrassing, how about we just forget about lunch?"

  Everything is ready, just waiting for Jiang Chuan's "good", this phone call filled with awkward atmosphere can end.

  However.

  However, he suddenly heard the rustling sound from Jiang Chuan's side stop, and after a moment, he said: "I'm already up."

  "What then?"

  Jiang Chuan: "Where shall we meet an hour later? Bring Fang Yu along, if worst comes to worst I'll look at him, not you."

  Jian Ran: "......"

  The determination to mooch off others is quite firm indeed.

  He thought for a moment and decided to have Thai food for lunch. After telling Jiang Chuan the address, he hung up the phone without any hesitation - the young man with black hair was left standing there, feeling that the world was heartless. At this time, his agent drove up in his old car, and as soon as Jian Rang got in, he asked where they were going for lunch. Jian Rang told him the address and added, "I've also invited Jiang Chuan."

  "Oh, you called him, and he actually accompanied you." Fang Yu said calmly while driving, "It seems that the two of you were quite honest last night and nothing happened, otherwise you shouldn't be sitting together eating so calmly now?"

  Jian Ran: "......"

  Fang Yu: "Think about it, two big men who just met not long ago, if they had done something last night... now looking at each other's mouth that they passionately kissed last night, one opening and closing while chewing food, can the meal still be enjoyed?"

  "Are you annoyed?!"

  "Hey, I'm not bothering you, but I'll tell you that Jiang Chuan is still giving you face. He's busy and has to fly to H City tonight with his assistant for the ancient costume drama he's about to start filming. Originally, I was supposed to stay here and deal with your mess for a week before going over there, but since your problem is solved and the contract with Chuan Na is signed, you can prepare to go back too. Why don't we head to H City together tomorrow? You can play around or watch Jiang Chuan film on location, and in half a month, 'Star Fire' should start filming too. After all, it's Chuan Na, the pre-publicity is already done, it's really awesome."

  He listened carefully and naturally agreed to come along - because when he was with A Fei, he unexpectedly found the process of watching people film to be quite enjoyable... And after more than half a year, not having been to G City as a human for a long time, Jian Ran thought about it and still felt some small excitement - When they arrived at H City, their first stop was to rush to the top of the mountain to burn incense and offer some delicious food to his former comrade Xiao Hei.

  About twenty minutes later, Jinran and Fang Yu sat down in the restaurant.

  While waiting for Jiang Chuan, Jianran casually scrolled through Weibo and found that Xu Qianqian had deleted the oil painting post - this woman is really not willing to be quiet for a minute, always wanting to brush up on her sense of existence. Jianran looked at his own Weibo comments and saw someone asking why Xu Qianqian deleted the post, he thought it was quite funny, so he replied from his small account: "Why did Xu Qianqian delete the post? You ask Jianran what's going on? Is he her dad?"

  Since the last time in Jiang Chuan's Weibo and brain-dead black war, Jian Ran Xiao Hao also has a reputation. Seeing him appear under Yuan Jianran's Weibo, Jianran's rice balls responded to take photos with him. Jianran was happily jumping around on his small account when he received a text message from Jiang Luocheng saying that he asked Xu Qianqian to delete her Weibo.

  He usually ignores him, but since he's in a good mood today, he casually responds: "Oh? What's next? Come to show off?"

  Jiang Luocheng immediately replied: Don't talk with a tone, I'm also concerned about you. You didn't even reply to my text message last night, and you're making such a big fuss that I'm afraid you'll lose your role.

  Jian Ran: No need to thank me, the contract is signed. I didn't see your text message and now I'm too lazy to look at it - you can tell Xu Qianqian about this result. Whether or not she was the one who stirred up trouble last night, her efforts were all in vain anyway.

  Jiang Luocheng: Don't say that, this has nothing to do with her. Let's talk about it when you're free.

  Jian Ran: Not agreed.

  He looked at Jiang Luocheng with a serious expression, as if Xu Qianqian was innocent. He originally thought he would be very angry, but instead, he found himself to be quite calm. He realized that Jiang Luocheng's words were actually a formal closure for him - yes, that's the reality. In real life, there probably wouldn't be as many plot twists of scumbags turning back around like in online live streams' 818 episodes. If a scumbag can turn back around, it's probably because he still has some lingering feelings for someone in his heart; more often than not, the scumbag and the mistress would leave together, carefree.

  For example, Jiang Luocheng is not crying and begging him not to leave now. This can only show that he doesn't like Xu Qianqian very much either - it seems that he is with Xu Qianqian because of the evidence of his relationship with Jin Yan in her hands, and he is reluctantly with Xu Qianqian for Jin Yan's sake. However, in fact, this matter not being exposed can only bring benefits and no harm to him, right? He just did some things that still have a bit of humanity on the sly - but what does this mean? It can only prove that he still has some humanity left, and Jin Yan's eyes are not completely blind yet.

  No matter how much he did, it had nothing to do with him and Jian Yan sitting down together and rushing towards a happy ending.

  Reality is just so helpless.

  Some things will always end up like this, inexplicably and without a trace - although they were once truly painful for someone, life goes on, time passes, and when we meet again, everyone just smiles and lets bygones be bygones.

  After sending the text message, he put down his phone and suddenly looked up to find Jiang Chuan sitting across from him. When Fang Yu called the waiter for the menu, Jiang Chuan picked up his cup and took a sip of water. As he put down the cup, he found that the black-haired young man sitting across from him had completely forgotten their previous agreement "not to look at each other but at Fang Yu". He was now staring at his mouth with eyes that were about to catch fire. The man slightly furrowed his brow and asked: "What are you looking at?"

  Fang Yu turned his head and glanced at Jin Ran, then lifted the corner of his eye to scan Jiang Chuan. After thinking about what he had said in the car earlier, he asked, "Did you two kiss last night?"

  Gingawa spat the second mouthful of water back into the cup.

  He put down his cup and let the waiter bring him a new one. The man wiped his mouth and calmly said, "No."

  A concise negative, then silence. After savoring the strange atmosphere for a moment, he said, "That's when I took advantage of you sleeping to steal a kiss."

  "Am I that kind of person?"

  "Like."

  He gave him a stern look, snatched the menu over and ordered several dishes using the restaurant's client, then handed the menu to Jiang Chuan. Jiang Chuan took it without even looking at it and directly sent the menu out of the private room to the waiter to prepare for serving the food. During the wait for the food to be served, Fang Yu originally wanted to tell Jiang Chuan about how they had passed this test so that he would pay more attention to such things in the future. However, before he could say a couple of sentences, he was interrupted...

  "He told me everything."

  "He" naturally refers to Yuan Jinyan.

  Ba Jia didn't succeed and Fang Yu looked a bit disappointed as he closed his mouth, thought for a moment, turned his head to look at Jin Ran and said: "You don't have any friends?"

  He has completely lost his temper.

  During dinner, three people clinked their glasses together to celebrate that Jian Ran had successfully passed this difficult hurdle and had accepted the first big production since he woke up. It seemed as if he could see a beautiful artistic path unfolding before him. Throughout the entire meal, Jian Ran was in a great mood, excitedly telling Jiang Chuan that he would follow him to H City tomorrow to watch him film, but Jiang Chuan's reaction was just to raise an eyebrow, glance at him and say "oh" before looking away, his demeanor so cold it was as if he had forgotten they had been inseparable the night before.

  At this thought, his eyes flickered and he subconsciously bit the wound on the corner of his lip. At the same time, he felt that his foot under the table was heavily trampled by someone. He raised his head and accidentally met a pair of dangerous azure pupils.

  Jian Ran: "......"

  Can't I just think about it?

  Jiang Chuan: “......”

  No way.

  He had no choice but to announce his surrender, pretending to change the subject and ask Jiang Chuan who would be starring in their costume drama. Unexpectedly, this question led to some fresh news - it turned out that Xi De, a foreign singer who had been in a vegetative state for a long time just like him, had actually come to Tianjin and was going to participate in Jiang Chuan's play.

  "Playing with yarn, that's a traditional opera, how can a foreigner play it?"

  "How can't they act or sing? Didn't the crew of 'Mulan' invite Vitas to perform before? It didn't feel out of place at all." Fang Yuman said nonchalantly, "Moreover, they are all singers with very good physical conditions, this is really a great selling point."

  "Playing a wolf tribe prince, there aren't many lines," Jiang Chuan raised the corner of his lips and said indifferently, "He's just a savage."

  "...haven't even seen you and yet you're so full of aggression, is this really okay?"

  "Don't like him."

  "I remember that person is from the same country as you, shouldn't they be close to each other?"

  "Do you and Xu Qianqian have a crush on each other?"

  "What's so funny?"

  "She is also from your country."

  “……”

  Alright.