The incident occurred in the second month after Ling Xi's contract with the company was formally terminated.
Ling Xi's life had been tremendously hectic since the contract's cancellation. Opening a milk tea store, particularly a chain of milk tea shops, needed significantly more than he anticipated. An Ruifeng advised him to take a breather and go through the formalities step by step instead of rushing through them after noticing that he went out early and returned late every day, which was more demanding than his own filming schedule.
Work stolen from https://chipoholictranslations.blogspot.com
Ling Xi declined: "I, too, am a guy. I'd also like to have a career."
An Ruifeng was taken aback and quickly understood. "I'm sorry for thinking you were too weak," he apologized.
"Plus, the bar for being in a relationship with a celebrity is really high these days. I am neither a second-generation of the military nor a second-generation of government. If I don't work hard to make money, how can gossip tabloids fabricate a headline like "Famous male movie star suspected of being kept by a homosexual rich businessman for many years" when we come out of the closet in the future?"
"......"
Ling Xi became engrossed in a fantasy: "We can quarrel and make a scene when I get rich. You can throw money at my face and curse me in a fit of rage: do you have anything other than some dirty money? Then I can refute: Oh? Aside from your stunning looks and long legs, what else do you have?"
An Ruifeng had become accustomed to Ling Xi's wild fantasies. He wrapped his arms around Ling Xi's waist and drew him into his arms, quietly murmuring in his ear, "Only legs are long?"
"Nngh...time is also long," Ling Xi blushed, his heart skipping a beat.
Following his remark, An Ruifeng said, "How long is 'long time'?"
"This...I don't actually recall this. Probably as long as the day when the sun shines straight overhead on the Tropic of Cancer and the Arctic Circle has the longest daytime," Ling Xi said as he raised his head, his big dark eyes wide with anticipation. [Ling Xi is talking about June 21st, day of Summer Solstice in the northern hemisphere, when the Arctic Circle has daylight for 24 hours. lol. Tall order for you AnAn.]
An Ruifeng expressed his gratitude to Ling Xi by practical actions in order to live up to this compliment. They didn't even have time to go to the bedroom before stripping naked on the living room sofa.
Fortunately, An Ruifeng had the wisdom to replace the sofa from fabric to pure leather before Ling Xi moved in, so that even if 20ml of mysterious liquid was sprayed on it, it could be readily wiped off.
An Ruifeng carried Ling Xi back to the bedroom when the battle was over. Ling Xi rolled over on the wide bed, one hand holding his waist and his eyes half-closed. He was dizzy and appeared to be about to fall asleep. An Ruifeng hugged him from behind, and there was no separation between them.
An Ruifeng kissed his nape: "Xu-ge got me a new endorsement, and I need to do some endorsement shots. This time, though, it is not a studio shoot. I'll be traveling abroad to film on location."
Ling Xi yawned. An Ruifeng was popular at the time, and he needed to travel all over for work. Ling Xi had mentally prepared himself for this, so he didn't feel bad about their parting. "Where are you going? How long will you be gone?"
"We're going to BingXue Island and will be back in a week." [BingXue Island=Greenland]
BingXue Island's territory was mostly within the Arctic Circle, and it had an extraordinarily cold climate that was covered in ice and snow all year. Just a while ago, the two men were discussing the length of the day in the Arctic Circle during the summer solstice, and now An Ruifeng said he was going to film there. What a wonderful coincidence.
An Ruifeng recently signed a contract with a world renowned winter clothing brand. The idea for the spokesperson's photoshoot this time was to avoid the usual snow mountain skiing scenario and instead focus on the enigmatic igloo. But it was only September, and many countries had no snow. Even if it snowed, the density and quality of the snow were far from similar to an igloo's setting, thus the shooting location selected was FairyTale Country's BingXue Island. [FairyTale Country=Denmark]
When Ling Xi learned that An Ruifeng was traveling there, he yawned and made a request: "Bring me some beautiful fridge magnets with local features when you return."
"Why do you need fridge magnets?"
"Collection, of course. Every time I travel, whether for pleasure or for business, I must purchase local refrigerator magnets as a keepsake. BingXue Island is too far away and too chilly for me; I doubt I'll ever have the opportunity to visit it... Bring a few fridge magnets with you when you return, and I'll treat it as if I was there..."
His voice became increasingly low, almost mumbling the final words. An Ruifeng looked over and found that Ling Xi was already sleeping sweetly in his arms. When An Ruifeng exhaled, his scattered hair on his brow fluttered gently, and his two bright red cheeks glowed like the most beautiful apples, tempting others to leave tooth marks on them.
An Ruifeng smiled and tucked him in, kissing his side face. He took his phone from the bedside cupboard after a brief moment of thought. He wanted to call, but he was concerned about disturbing Ling Xi's sleep, so he decided to send the information to Xu Zhiqiang through text message.
… …
Xu Zhiqiang arrived on time the next morning to take An Ruifeng to the airport. In a stupor, Ling Xi saw off An Ruifeng while wrapped in a towel. He'd tied the towel in the Athenian classic style, so most of his chest and legs were exposed when he walked. Xu Zhiqiang quickly averted his gaze and pretended to examine the fake flowers on An Ruifeng's porch.
An Ruifeng called out to Xu Zhiqiang after the two had finished kissing: "Xu-ge, did you bring the stuff I requested you to get?"
"Yes, yes, I have them... To pick up these things for you, I had to set out for your villa two hours ahead of time and had to go in a large circle to pick you up." Xu Zhiqiang complained as he withdrew a large and bulging plastic bag from his briefcase, which appeared to weigh a few kilos.
An Ruifeng had made money and invested in real estate, purchasing a couple of villas, but his primary place of residence was an indoor condo. Because the villa couldn't be kept unoccupied, it was merely utilized to keep fan gifts. An Ruifeng texted him last night, telling him to go to the villa and collect all the refrigerator magnets he could find and bring them all to him.
An Ruifeng accepted the offered bag and placed it in Ling Xi's arms. Ling Xi couldn't make heads or tails of what was going on. He opened the package and discovered dozens of different types of refrigerator magnets, ranging from the most conventional square shaped to the unique three-dimensional chibi variants. All of the refrigerator magnets featured the same attractive and perfect actor, who was now standing in front of Ling Xi.
"Why did you give me so many refrigerator magnets?" Ling Xi was utterly perplexed.
"Didn't you say you have to buy a refrigerator magnet every time you went somewhere to prove you were there?" An Ruifeng's slim fingers reached into the bag, and he chose one at random and turned it between his fingers. "So I handed you a bunch of my own refrigerator magnets, which also proves you came here."
"Came where? To your house?"
"Of course not," An Ruifeng shook his head with a smile on his face. He pressed the fridge magnet, which had been warmed by his palm, into Ling Xi's hand, then squeezed his fingers together to make him clench it securely. "Proof that you've entered my heart."
Ling Xi promptly threw himself into An Ruifeng's arms, hung from his neck, and kissed him hard enough to make the emperor late for court. The bag of refrigerator magnets in his arms spilled unattended all over the floor.
Xu Zhiqiang, who was admiring the phony flowers on the side, had no time to dodge. He didn't have time to protect his eyes and was afraid he'd be blinded. He almost pissed his pants in terror and dashed out of the porch, standing outdoors and coughing violently, attempting to expel the pink love gas he had inadvertently sucked into his body.
Ling Xi inquired innocently after kissing to his heart's desire, "Isn't it bad for Xu-ge to see our public displays of affection every day? He has been single for a long time and is not in a relationship. It must be tough for him to witness our intimacy."
An Ruifeng gave a nod: "Yes, indeed. Despite being 38, he has been preoccupied with work and has never been in love. He looks after both me and my brother. I really should assist him in identifying suitable candidates, but everyone I come into contact with is part of the circle. I don't think they're appropriate."
Ling Xi was struck by a brainwave: "Who says there isn't a suitable candidate out there? Wu-ge, my agent, is also single! They're also both quite familiar..."
Outside the door, they could hear Xu Zhiqiang's outraged roar: "Can you leave a piece of Pure Land for straight men?"
Work stolen from https://chipoholictranslations.blogspot.com
※※※
An Ruifeng ended filming on BingXue Island a week later and boarded the scheduled flight back to his home country with his fellow staff members. Despite the fact that BingXue Island covered a wide area, its climate and topography made it unsuitable for the construction of a large airport. They had to take a short aircraft to FairyTale Country first, then transfer to an international flight to return to Panda Country.
An Ruifeng was determined to get home as quickly as possible. Initially, the staff planned a short sightseeing tour of FairyTale Country for him. He used the excuse that he had work scheduled after his return to politely decline their offer. When he boarded the international flight and waited for takeoff, Xu Zhiqiang, who was sitting next to him, grumbled that he had wrecked a great free-funded excursion.
"FairyTale Country is nice," An Ruifeng remarked, "but I hope to come with Ling Xi."
"Huh?"
"And when we return, he and I will no longer be considered 'unmarried.'"
Xu Zhiqiang scratched his head, remembering that FairyTale Country was the first to legalize same-sex marriage...
An Ruifeng added another sentence: "You don't need to worry about your wedding speech. Your partner can write it."
Xu Zhiqiang: "...Could you please stop mentioning Wu Youpeng?"
An Ruifeng cocked his brow: "Eh? When did I say your partner is Wu-ge?"
Xu Zhiqiang was enraged to the point of having a heart attack. He used to believe that his artist was diligent and obedient. How could he become as out of tune as Ling Xi after sleeping with him for a few months? [out of tune is a metaphor to describe a person who talks randomly i.e. connects things that are not related to each other.]
He was ready to raise his voice in protest when he noticed two more passengers entering the first class cabin. They appeared to be in their fifties, with gray hair around their temples and sunny personalities. They seemed to be a couple. The husband and wife were both black-haired and black-eyed, and they spoke Panda Country's language, therefore they must be compatriots.
An Ruifeng was a well-known celebrity in Panda Country, and on domestic flights, he had to book the entire first-class cabin. However, because this was an international flight, the clothing company only purchased two first-class cabin tickets for An Ruifeng and Xu Zhiqiang. The remainder of the retinue and assistants sat in business class. Seeing fellow citizens approaching, Xu Zhiqiang instinctively desired to find the sunglasses for An Ruifeng to wear.
The couple didn't notice them. They appeared delighted to be sitting in the first class cabin, and looked exactly like Grandma Liu entering the Grand View Garden for the first time. [Grandma Liu enters the Grand View Garden is a metaphor for people who have never seen the world come to a strange and novel world of flowers. It can be used to ridicule those who are short-sighted and ignorant, or it can be used to humble or laugh at oneself. Grandma Liu is a character in A Dream of Red Mansions, one of China's four major classical literary works.]
Grandma Liu stated: "Lao Ling, you see I'm correct. The tour guide will absolutely be able to upgrade us to first class if you are ready to pay! We've been traveling around the world for 80 days, and we'd had to sit in economy class for 40 of them. This final flight will take more than ten hours. I can't bear sitting again..."
Grandpa Liu said: "Yes, yes, yes, my wife is right. I've heard that the first-class seats on many international flights are private cubicles with fully reclining seats. We'll be able to get some proper rest this time."
"Oh! By the way, did you tell our son the pick-up time?"
"Eh? Didn't you inform him?"
"......"
The two stood in the middle of the aisle, staring at each other, until the flight attendant urged them to take a seat. They began accusing each other after hurriedly sitting down.
Grandma Liu said, "I finally came out to have fun. I was preoccupied with photographing the scenery. How could I have the time to tell XiXi about the itinerary? Tell me what you were busy with."
"I was busy taking pictures of you!" Grandpa Liu explained.
With a single statement, he averted tragedy and silenced his wife's complaints. He coaxed his wife into a happy mood. She was clearly in her fifties, yet when she looked at him, her gaze was that of a young woman in her twenties.
The seats for the two were on the other side of the aisle. Xu Zhiqiang listened with his ears pricked and then gave a thumbs up. Sweet-talking his wife was not a skill for a man, but sweet-talking his wife for a lifetime was.
He realized An Ruifeng's gaze was fixed on the couple as soon as he turned his head. He was so terrified that he yanked him quickly: "Why are you staring at them? Aren't you worried that they will recognize you?"
An Ruifeng turned to face Xu Zhiqiang and stated, as if in a dream, "...I have seen them."
"What! Where?"
"In Ling Xi's mobile phone album."
※※※
Xu Zhiqiang was taken aback. He took a closer look at the couple after hearing what An Ruifeng said. The more he looked, the more he realized they were somewhat similar to Ling Xi. Particularly when Papa Ling coaxed Mama Ling, he smelled the familiar sticky smell, which he had smelled on Ling Xi many times... It turned out to be their family's style. Sweet speech and honeyed words seemed to be etched in their genes.
As a bystander, he found the current situation to be both coincidental and awkward, especially given that the party involved was An Ruifeng.
At this point, Ling Xi had not come out of the closet to his family. He entered the entertainment world at a young age and did not consult his parents about important events or minor matters. At this time, he was scared that the company might send someone to bother his parents, so he spent money and booked an 80-day luxury tour around the world for the old couple, while he himself moved to An Ruifeng's house. According to his plan, after the milk tea chain store officially opened, he would gaily return home in glory, clutching the letter of termination of contract and the new company's ownership certificate in one hand and An Ruifeng in the other.
—But this had been planned for at least a half-year later!
Man proposes, God disposes. Nobody expected An Ruifeng to run across Papa and Mama Ling on the way back to Panda Country. He dared to bet that, given the Ling family's tendencies, Papa and Mama Ling forgot to alert Ling Xi to meet them at the airport, and Ling Xi would certainly not bother checking the itinerary to see when his parents would come home.
This entire family was far too laid-back. All of the survival skill points appeared to have been spent on expressing love words.
Most individuals would probably avoid such a chance encounter, but An Ruifeng saw it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He could use this opportunity to establish a positive relationship with Ling Xi's family. Although Ling Xi maintained that his parents would undoubtedly like An Ruifeng, An Ruifeng had always felt a tremendous sense of uneasiness when it came to a huge affair such as coming out of the closet.
But, considering his fame, taking the initiative to speak was too contrived. Mama Ling had discovered him before he could think of a clever approach to capture the attention of Ling Xi's parents.
"Lao Ling, look, is the one seated next to us the white-shirted CEO on TV?" she nervously inquired in a hushed voice, pulling Papa Ling's sleeve.
"What white-shirted CEO? Those who can afford first class must all be CEOs, right?..."
"This memory of yours! I'm referring to the actor who played the white-shirted CEO! When I was following TV dramas earlier, you were also happily watching them with me," Mama Ling remarked.
"How can I watch soap operas as a manly old man? I was merely concerned that you would injure your hand while cutting an apple while watching a TV show, so I unwillingly joined you in watching a few episodes... I don't recall any plots!" Papa Ling casted a careful glance in An Ruifeng's direction: "Although I don't remember his appearance, I think this person seems rather handsome, he must be a star."
The couple was whispering, but the space between the two rows of chairs was small, and An Ruifeng had been paying attention to their motions, so he could plainly hear their talk. On hearing them discussing his looks, he pretended to be calm and flipped a page of the magazine, gloating in his heart: Fortunately, I was born with a luminous body, so my father-in-law and mother-in-law spotted me without my doing anything.
Everything had gone smoothly throughout Mama Ling's life, and she rarely fretted about anything, which allowed her to preserve a girlish heart, which was difficult to come by. She was overjoyed when she saw the attractive male star, and she eagerly rummaged in her handbag for the small book she was carrying, hoping to obtain An Ruifeng's autograph.
She hesitated before approaching An Ruifeng: "I'm not sure I should go. It is not easy to be a celebrity. Everywhere he goes, he is surrounded by people clamoring for autographs. It's now his private time. Isn't it a horrible idea to go over?"
Papa Ling gave a nod: "That's true. I believe the person sitting next to him should be his agent. When you go over, I'm guessing you'll be stopped by the agent. You'd better not go and cause trouble for others."
After hearing this, An Ruifeng became anxious. Worried that his mother-in-law would not come to ask for an autograph, he simply opted to attack. He set the magazine down, turned his head to face her at an angle that revealed his most exquisite front, and nodded lightly, flashing a friendly but appropriate smile: "How can it be troublesome? I've been looking for a lovely lady to ask for my autograph, and you're her."
Mama Ling gasped and let out a quick shout of joy. She waited for the plane to take off smoothly before hastily unbuckling her seat belt, standing up, and walking to An Ruifeng's side, handing him the small book in her hand.
Depending on the occasion, each celebrity provided a variety of autographs. An autograph from An Ruifeng for a fan was generally written with a flourish but couldn't be read at all. He was now signing for his mother-in-law, and his treatment was obviously different. He took the notebook and placed it on his lap, penning his name in the calligraphic technique he'd used to leave his signature on the signature plate after walking the red carpet. It was both neat and unrestrained. He sketched a maple leaf next to it after a brief moment of thought.
When Mama Ling received the autograph, she held it as if it were a rare treasure, stroking the maple leaf and exclaiming in awe: "I didn't realize you could not only act but also draw so well. Look at how beautifully this mountain has been painted!"
She enthusiastically lifted her autograph and asked Papa Ling to photograph the two of them. An Ruifeng hurriedly rose up, apologized, and placed his hand on the woman's waist.
Mama Ling was overjoyed to the point of swooning. She stated that she had been traveling around the world for 80 days and that this was the happiest day of her trip.
An Ruifeng modestly smiled and suggested, "Please let your husband stand beside me. I can have my agent take a picture of the three of us."
Mama Ling said in surprise, "What husband? I'm not married yet. This is the travel buddy I met on my trip. I don't even know his name or age."
Papa Ling: "...Huh?"
Xu Zhiqiang almost laughed: he finally knew who Ling Xi's unconstrained style was like.
An Ruifeng went along with her words: "I misunderstood. I heard you guys talking about your son XiXi just now..."
"You misheard it. I haven't married yet, so how can I have a son?"
Even An Ruifeng couldn't hold back this time. To stop himself from laughing, he averted his head and coughed a few times.
Mama Ling could only concede after seeing that An Ruifeng and Xu Zhiqiang had seen through her unsophisticated lies: "I was just kidding. He's my husband. My son XiXi is filial, and he especially found a tour company for us old people to tour other countries." Every parent has the desire to show off their children in their hearts, and Mama Ling couldn't stop herself once she opened the chatterbox. She flipped through her passport, pointing to the visas and customs stamps page by page, flaunting how filial her son was.
Even Papa Ling, who hadn't said much previously, chimed in: "Yes, my son is kind and sensible. He has a wonderful voice. Oh! Both of you are half-peers; he is a singer! Do you enjoy listening to music? I'll give you a CD of his music!"
Mama Ling snarled: "This memory of yours! You brought so many of his records with you, but you gave one here, one there, and gave them all away early! You gave the last one to the tourist bus driver before boarding the plane, urging him to play it for the next Panda Country tour group they pick up..."
An Ruifeng's heart warmed as he heard the couple's comments. He thought he finally understood why Ling Xi was never concerned about the opposition he may face when he came out of the closet. Whatever position Ling Xi held, Papa Ling and Mama Ling would always be his most devoted fans and staunch supporters. An Ruifeng considered himself extremely fortunate to be able to join such a warm family.
He softly uttered "Oh," his brows smoothed, his look was pleasantly surprised, and his acting talents skyrocketed at that moment. "Actually, up until this point, I had only thought that both of you appeared to be extremely nice. I finally figured it out when you mentioned your son is a singer - is your son Ling Xi? Ling Xi, the singer of "Heart Has Ling Xi" and "Zero"?"
An actor's agent is also an actor. Xu Zhiqiang nodded repeatedly: "I was just thinking you looked familiar; it turns out you're Ling Xi's parents! Ling Xi is a good child. My family's An Ruifeng and he are brothers!"
Their remarks came as a surprise to the elderly couple. "Are you familiar with Ling Xi?"
The entertainment industry is simply incomprehensible. Friendships can be formed between two people who have vastly differing numbers of admirers.
An Ruifeng had a ready-made justification at his disposal: "Don't you know? We worked together on the series "Jian Jue Tianxia" a few months ago, playing master and apprentice, and we gradually became acquainted. Panda TV purchased the screening rights just the previous month. If I'm not mistaken, it will be aired on television next month."
Mama Ling had an epiphany: "I heard him remark a few months ago that he was going to film. Then he was closed off for a month, and there was no mobile phone coverage, so we couldn't communicate, but I didn't ask him what play he was filming... I assumed he'd turn into an actor, but he stopped filming after one series. He suddenly sent us abroad for three months, and we didn't have time to look up his current situation online. I'm also not sure if he's working on a new record right now."
Ling Xi sent his parents on a world tour before the contract was terminated, afraid that he would cause his parents concern, so Papa Ling and Mama Ling had no knowledge he had already abandoned the entertainment world until today. An Ruifeng knew that Ling Xi wanted to inform his parents personally, therefore he did not inform them of the outcome at this time. Instead, he made a few jokes and avoided the subject.
Work stolen from https://chipoholictranslations.blogspot.com
Fortunately, it was simple for this celebrity to divert the couple's attention. Mama Ling was very curious about filming and bombarded An Ruifeng with questions one after the other. Some of the questions were ridiculously simple, but An Ruifeng was incredibly thorough and detailed, answering them one at a time seriously.
In exchange, Mama Ling recounted to An Ruifeng a few amusing stories from Ling Xi's childhood.
"I wonder if you have heard this fable? Once upon a time, a father gave each of his three sons a silver ingot and urged them to go out and buy enough items to fill a room. The eldest son purchased stone bricks, while the middle son bought straw, yet these items did not fill the room. The youngest son got a candle and illuminated the entire room with it... I related this story to Ling Xi, who was still in elementary school at the time, and then gave him ten bucks to come up with another way to fill a room. Do you know how he responded?" Mama Ling sold the story's climax.
Based on his knowledge of Ling Xi's IQ, Xu Zhiqiang came up with the following response: "I suppose he got a light bulb?"
Based on his knowledge of Ling Xi's talent, An Ruifeng came up with the following response: "Did he use his singing to fill the entire room?"
With a shake of his head, Papa Ling said: "Both of you guessed wrong. After work that day, I discovered him sitting alone in the living room, eating a type of chocolate that I usually bought for him during the New Year's holidays. I asked him why he spent the money on chocolate instead of doing the assignment. "As long as I sit here, I can fill the room with laughter and merriment, and this chocolate is my reward for always being so joyful and cheerful," he said."
"At the time, Lao Ling was angry but laughed." Mama Ling also stated: "Since he was a child, my son has been optimistic; he is also a little clever in trivial matters, and he is easy to please. Most of the time, this is a good intrinsic quality, and it can help him maintain his growth, have an optimistic attitude, and be joyful every day. At the same time, he may not have accomplished much in his life since his personality limits him. He's satisfied and glad when he climbs a little bit and achieves - or lowers - his goals, and he doesn't worry about going up again. Or if he hasn't even reached half of his goal, but tries and discovers that the way is blocked, he can give up without psychological pressure because he has been joyful and met interesting people in the process."
Mama Ling's analysis had to be accepted to be reasonable. An Ruifeng had the impression that he knew Ling Xi quite well. They were always together, touched one other intimately, and read the meaning in each other's eyes. Nonetheless, Mama Ling's comments enriched An Ruifeng's understanding of his sweetheart.
People who didn't understand Ling Xi dismissed him as a weed with no ambition. Only those who understood him recognized that his heart was a garden enveloped by sunshine.
An Ruifeng was delighted that he'd walked into this garden and noticed his beauty.
As they talked, time flew by. When the flight attendant arrived to remind her to eat, Papa Ling dragged Mama Ling back into her seat. The meals in the first-class cabin were far superior to those in the standard cabin. Mama Ling wanted to go over and talk with An Ruifeng again after the two of them had a hearty meal.
"Before getting on the plane, you claimed you wanted to catch up on sleep," Papa Ling held her back. "How come I haven't seen you rest up until now?"
"It's great to look at such a handsome guy," Mama Ling said. "My eyes feel refreshed when I look at him."
"You may not want to sleep, but others do. An Ruifeng's agent said just now that he is not here on vacation, but for work. He appears to be developing black circles under his eyes. Don't bother him."
An Ruifeng was indeed completely exhausted. When he landed at BingXue Island, he ignored jet lag and got right to work, hoping to finish the shoot as soon as possible so he could return and reunite with Ling Xi. His nerves were strained when he unexpectedly met his in-laws on the return journey. He'd been talking for several hours and couldn't take it any longer. He was solicitous to Ling Xi's parents before going to bed, saying, "I know Ling Xi very well, and I always said before that I would come to visit uncle and aunt. I will surely come to see you in a few days when Ling Xi is not too busy. When the time comes, I hope you don't think I'm bothering you."
"No, no, how is that possible? I like you, child. You don't have the airs of a celebrity at all!" Mama Ling chuckled as she covered her mouth: "I wish I had given birth to a daughter at that time. It would have been fantastic... By the way, do you have a younger sister? Our Ling Xi isn't very skilled at anything, but he's a natural when it comes to adoring his wife. He gave guidance to his school's P.E. teacher and helped him chase after the arts teacher when he was ten years old."
"No, I have only one older brother." An Ruifeng knew deep down that he didn't need a younger sister. He had experienced Ling Xi's clever mouth firsthand. He could express loving words and sing love songs... There was also a third unmentionable use that was really ingenious.
"What a shame," Mama Ling muttered to herself, "I'm a big fan of mixed-race babies."
An Ruifeng responded in his heart: Okay, I'll continue to work hard.
Initially, he just wanted to sleep for a while. His work had been too exhausting, and he was also in a good mood from seeing Ling Xi's parents, so he ended up sleeping soundly and deeply. When he opened his eyes, the plane had already landed and was taxiing.
He stared out the window in disbelief, only to see that he had indeed landed. He had anticipated that the ten or so hours on the road would be difficult to pass. He didn't expect to fall asleep and then wake up back at home.
A farewell announcement was made in the cabin when the plane was linked to the jetway. First-class passengers had the privilege of exiting the plane first, so everyone stood up and straightened up their belongings. An Ruifeng took his time getting off the plane. He first assisted Mama Ling in removing the baggage from the overhead bin.
Papa and Mama Ling had packed their cell phones in their small carry-on luggage. As soon as they opened the baggage, the strong scent of shampoo filled the air. "Aiya! My mobile phone!" Papa Ling cried in despair. They hadn't tightened the cap on the small package of shampoo they were carrying with them. The entire bottle of shampoo had poured out, and it had spilled on the phone. The shampoo had made its way into the phone through the chinks after more than 10 hours of jolting on the flight. When they removed the rear cover, they discovered that the entire phone battery had become soaked in shampoo.
Both phones appeared to have been destroyed. They had just discussed how the first thing they would do after landing would be to contact Ling Xi to let him know they were safe and sound, and then they would take a cab and return home by themselves. But because the phones had been saturated, they couldn't even switch on, let alone make a call.
Ruifeng hurriedly stated: "With me here, how can I justify allowing uncle and aunt to take a cab? You've been traveling for a long time and probably have a lot of bags. My private trailer is parked in the lot. The trailer is really large and can fit everything." It was the perfect time for him to be courteous: "Don't be concerned about the phone. I'm so familiar with Ling Xi; naturally I have his phone number saved. You can simply call." While speaking, he handed over his phone to Papa Ling.
Ling Xi's name was saved as "007" in An Ruifeng's phone. This nickname was one-of-a-kind and mysterious, and it easily ranked #1 in the address book. When he handed the phone to Papa Ling, he was exceedingly gracious and fearless of accidentally revealing the truth about their relationship.
When Papa Ling saw the address book, he laughed: "007... Hey, this name is interesting!"
"Ling Xi also likes this nickname," An Ruifeng added.
He was speaking when the phone rang and a beep signaled the connection. It's not clear which button Papa Ling pressed. Ling Xi's sleepy voice came out clear and magnified through the phone's microphone.
"Hey husband..."
Papa Ling cheerfully interjected: "Silly XiXi, what husband, I'm your father... eh?"
An Ruifeng who was caught off guard: "......"
This silly XiXi is indeed super silly, thought Xu Zhiqiang.
Work stolen from https://chipoholictranslations.blogspot.com
Mama Ling, who was standing on the side, plainly heard the appellation coming from the microphone. She looked at An Ruifeng, then at the phone, then at Papa Ling, and then back at An Ruifeng. They were both old, but not foolish. Coincidentally, they'd returned from FairyTale Country, which supported same-sex marriage. They had lived so many years in vain if they didn't comprehend.
She sighed faintly and said, "He should be called 007. The Bond girl, it turns out, is right in front of me."
An Ruifeng's initial goal was to build a good relationship with the old couple and lay a solid foundation for eventually coming out of the closet. Surprisingly, the foundation had only recently been laid, and a tall tower rose abruptly from the ground. With a wry smile, he reclaimed his cell phone from Papa Ling's grasp and urged Ling Xi, "Quickly get up. I'll be bringing uncle and aunt back to our place soon. We have a lot to explain to them."
October 21, 2026
Extra 2: One day in the life of a CP fan
At 10:30 in the morning, Li Xiaoyu awakened in a daze owing to the sunlight diffusing through the window curtains. She turned over and took the phone from the bedside table to check the time.
She originally meant to retire to bed before twelve o'clock last night, but she accidently brushed Weibo until two o'clock in bed. After putting down her phone, she lay staring at the ceiling, and outlined her new article. It is said that a meng CP is the primary production force, which was perfectly reflected in Li Xiaoyu. She had an affluent background and was a college student with plenty of time on her hands. She used to give money and send presents when she chased stars. But ever since she became a meng CP fan, she opened Word for the first time to create fan fiction as if she was shot with adrenaline everyday, one after the other. She decided to write a fanfic about past life and present life this time around - an exceptionally abusive past life; an exceptionally beautiful present life. It started with 300,000 words and was intended to end in a month.
Work stolen from https://chipoholictranslations.blogspot.com
It was four o'clock when she checked her watch last before going to bed and had meant to sleep until noon, but her biological clock was too brutal and woke her up at half past ten. She wriggled for a little while on the bed enveloped in the duvet, put down the phone, and closed her eyes with the intention to continue sleeping, but after a minute, she picked the phone up again and clicked on the familiar forum page.
—An Ruifeng's official fan website was the spot where An Ruifeng's "Maple Leaf" fans gathered the most. In addition to writing fiction, talking about gossip on this fansite, sharing gorgeous images, and being obsessed with idols were the things that Li Xiaoyu did most to kill time every day.
The reason Li Xiaoyu liked An Ruifeng was simple: he was so handsome! An Ruifeng made his debut as an idol male star. He only appeared in major productions and played the role of Mr. Handsome Guy. Although his acting skills were raw at first, he quickly matured, and with the sharp facial features of a mixed-race person, a smile from him on TV was enough to captivate female fans. Li Xiaoyu loved speaking in the forum and was willing to spend money on tea breaks and bouquets for the crew and press conferences. She quickly rose to prominence among fans, rising to the position of deputy head of S City's fan club in less than two years.
An unknown small singer appeared beside An Ruifeng only a year and a half ago. When the small artist named Ling Xi first appeared on camera with An Ruifeng, almost all fans chastised him for hugging An Ruifeng's thighs to gain popularity. Only Li Xiaoyu, who had keen eyes, deduced that they must have been sweethearts in a previous life who would marry in this life. When they meet, they'll inevitably rock the world.
It was only logical that Li Xiaoyu had embarked on the path of constantly writing and spewing brain holes - if writing fanfiction was considered a "path," she had undoubtedly become immortal.
Li Xiaoyu was fully aware of the fandom's tone, so she created a sockpuppet account after becoming a fan of this CP. As more people fell into this pit, her alternate account became the trailblazer, and her stories became works that shook the fandom.
After posting a bunch of updates, someone referred to her wife in the comment area and wanted to hug her thigh. She responded righteously to such a remark:
"I'm not the wife; I'm merely a bearer of their love."
It was a really emotional and simple love.
Li Xiaoyu, who was resting in bed, wanted to play with her phone for a few minutes before going back to sleep, but the more she brushed, the more awake she grew. She would have yelled and executed a Thomas flair on the bed, followed by a volley for three and a half spins if her parents weren't watching TV in the living room.
There was no other rationale: at ten a.m. this morning, the official Weibo of a popular variety show released teasers, hinting at the intimate interaction between the cast of "Jian Jue Tianxia," which won seven Golden Panda Awards, and the live audience in the upcoming episode. Pictures taken by fans began to circulate as early as last week. An Ruifeng and Ling Xi were said to have interacted very sweetly at the scene. When they were grouped to play the red vs blue teams game, a member of the red team tightly gripped the blue team's Ling Xi's waistband. As a result, An Ruifeng, another member of the red team, knocked his hand off.
Li Xiaoyu's brain hole was opened wide by this set of pictures, and she wrote a PG-18 fanfic that night.
And the video footage released this morning was so meng that Li Xiaoyu almost had a hypoxia attack!
Before the show was recorded, the host asked the stars to hand over their wallets in the backstage dressing area and exposed the contents of the wallets on the spot. The recently incredibly popular variety show queen Zhu Linlin had a selfie photo in her wallet, the male lead Bao Hui had condoms hidden in the wallet's interlayer, and Ling Xi's wallet unexpectedly held a yellow talisman!
The host begged Ling Xi to show the audience the talisman, but Ling Xi, who was generally a good sport, declined.
"This talisman was handed to me by the old Taoist priest on location - that Taoist temple - when I was filming there previously. This type of talisman must be carried on one's person at all times and cannot be shown to anyone at will until the wish is granted. So please accept my apologies for not being able to unfold it."
"In that case, could you tell us what kind of talisman this is?" the host inquired.
"Yin yuan harmony talisman," Ling Xi smiled, exposing his white teeth.
"Yin yuan? I had previously watched the award ceremony. Ling Xi, you already have a lover, right? Are they also a part of the circle?"
Ling Xi deftly evaded the subject: "I'm no longer in the entertainment circle, so why talk about 'also'?"
The host didn't pester him because he knew he wasn't willing to answer. Rather, she took advantage of the occasion to inquire: "Your wish has been granted because you already have a lover. So why can't you show it to us?"
"Who said it was fulfilled? Marriage is for a lifetime," Ling Xi tilted his head and smiled slyly. "My life isn't over, so how can it be deemed granted?"
She originally meant to retire to bed before twelve o'clock last night, but she accidently brushed Weibo until two o'clock in bed. After putting down her phone, she lay staring at the ceiling, and outlined her new article. It is said that a meng CP is the primary production force, which was perfectly reflected in Li Xiaoyu. She had an affluent background and was a college student with plenty of time on her hands. She used to give money and send presents when she chased stars. But ever since she became a meng CP fan, she opened Word for the first time to create fan fiction as if she was shot with adrenaline everyday, one after the other. She decided to write a fanfic about past life and present life this time around - an exceptionally abusive past life; an exceptionally beautiful present life. It started with 300,000 words and was intended to end in a month.
Work stolen from https://chipoholictranslations.blogspot.com
It was four o'clock when she checked her watch last before going to bed and had meant to sleep until noon, but her biological clock was too brutal and woke her up at half past ten. She wriggled for a little while on the bed enveloped in the duvet, put down the phone, and closed her eyes with the intention to continue sleeping, but after a minute, she picked the phone up again and clicked on the familiar forum page.
—An Ruifeng's official fan website was the spot where An Ruifeng's "Maple Leaf" fans gathered the most. In addition to writing fiction, talking about gossip on this fansite, sharing gorgeous images, and being obsessed with idols were the things that Li Xiaoyu did most to kill time every day.
The reason Li Xiaoyu liked An Ruifeng was simple: he was so handsome! An Ruifeng made his debut as an idol male star. He only appeared in major productions and played the role of Mr. Handsome Guy. Although his acting skills were raw at first, he quickly matured, and with the sharp facial features of a mixed-race person, a smile from him on TV was enough to captivate female fans. Li Xiaoyu loved speaking in the forum and was willing to spend money on tea breaks and bouquets for the crew and press conferences. She quickly rose to prominence among fans, rising to the position of deputy head of S City's fan club in less than two years.
An unknown small singer appeared beside An Ruifeng only a year and a half ago. When the small artist named Ling Xi first appeared on camera with An Ruifeng, almost all fans chastised him for hugging An Ruifeng's thighs to gain popularity. Only Li Xiaoyu, who had keen eyes, deduced that they must have been sweethearts in a previous life who would marry in this life. When they meet, they'll inevitably rock the world.
It was only logical that Li Xiaoyu had embarked on the path of constantly writing and spewing brain holes - if writing fanfiction was considered a "path," she had undoubtedly become immortal.
Li Xiaoyu was fully aware of the fandom's tone, so she created a sockpuppet account after becoming a fan of this CP. As more people fell into this pit, her alternate account became the trailblazer, and her stories became works that shook the fandom.
After posting a bunch of updates, someone referred to her wife in the comment area and wanted to hug her thigh. She responded righteously to such a remark:
"I'm not the wife; I'm merely a bearer of their love."
It was a really emotional and simple love.
Li Xiaoyu, who was resting in bed, wanted to play with her phone for a few minutes before going back to sleep, but the more she brushed, the more awake she grew. She would have yelled and executed a Thomas flair on the bed, followed by a volley for three and a half spins if her parents weren't watching TV in the living room.
There was no other rationale: at ten a.m. this morning, the official Weibo of a popular variety show released teasers, hinting at the intimate interaction between the cast of "Jian Jue Tianxia," which won seven Golden Panda Awards, and the live audience in the upcoming episode. Pictures taken by fans began to circulate as early as last week. An Ruifeng and Ling Xi were said to have interacted very sweetly at the scene. When they were grouped to play the red vs blue teams game, a member of the red team tightly gripped the blue team's Ling Xi's waistband. As a result, An Ruifeng, another member of the red team, knocked his hand off.
Li Xiaoyu's brain hole was opened wide by this set of pictures, and she wrote a PG-18 fanfic that night.
And the video footage released this morning was so meng that Li Xiaoyu almost had a hypoxia attack!
Before the show was recorded, the host asked the stars to hand over their wallets in the backstage dressing area and exposed the contents of the wallets on the spot. The recently incredibly popular variety show queen Zhu Linlin had a selfie photo in her wallet, the male lead Bao Hui had condoms hidden in the wallet's interlayer, and Ling Xi's wallet unexpectedly held a yellow talisman!
The host begged Ling Xi to show the audience the talisman, but Ling Xi, who was generally a good sport, declined.
"This talisman was handed to me by the old Taoist priest on location - that Taoist temple - when I was filming there previously. This type of talisman must be carried on one's person at all times and cannot be shown to anyone at will until the wish is granted. So please accept my apologies for not being able to unfold it."
"In that case, could you tell us what kind of talisman this is?" the host inquired.
"Yin yuan harmony talisman," Ling Xi smiled, exposing his white teeth.
"Yin yuan? I had previously watched the award ceremony. Ling Xi, you already have a lover, right? Are they also a part of the circle?"
Ling Xi deftly evaded the subject: "I'm no longer in the entertainment circle, so why talk about 'also'?"
The host didn't pester him because he knew he wasn't willing to answer. Rather, she took advantage of the occasion to inquire: "Your wish has been granted because you already have a lover. So why can't you show it to us?"
"Who said it was fulfilled? Marriage is for a lifetime," Ling Xi tilted his head and smiled slyly. "My life isn't over, so how can it be deemed granted?"
This segment wasn't particularly exciting, but just a few minutes later, An Ruifeng produced his wallet at the request of the host - he too had a talisman in the photo holder!
The host laughed, asking if the talisman in An Ruifeng's hand matched Ling Xi's talisman.
An Ruifeng burst out laughing: "How is it even possible? I went to the Taoist temple by myself a few months back and requested this talisman. You are welcome to take a look at it." He displayed his talisman as he said this, but the vermillion calligraphy on it was too elegant. The camera swept over it, but the content was obscured.
When the host inquired about the talisman, An Ruifeng replied: "This is my fáng shì hé xié talisman. This wish has come true, so I can show it to you whenever I want and let everyone share my joy."
The host's face blanched, her red lips opening wide enough to swallow an apple. She repeatedly asked An Ruifeng if he had a lover. She understood that if this information was exposed on their show, there would be a riot among fans and the show's ratings would skyrocket.
The male star, who had enthralled thousands of fans, seemed perplexed in front of the camera: "What lover? Isn't fáng shì hé xié used for buying a house? I just purchased a couple houses as an investment, and everything went smoothly, so I declared that my wish had come true." [fáng shì means sexual intercourse. Ruifeng meant mǎi fáng: to buy a house.]
In the camera shot, his agent Xu-ge, who was highly familiar to fans, walked over with a dark face and murmured a few words in his ear. An Ruifeng's demeanor changed from surprise to shame. Then, he coughed nervously and said to the cameraman, "Oh!... So that's what fáng shì means. I'm sorry. You know that I grew up in Maple Leaf Country so there are some Panda Country words that I don't understand very well. I made a joke."
After such humorous little tidbits were disclosed, fans discussed heatedly, and Li Xiaoyu, a die-hard An Ruifeng x Ling Xi CP fan, had melted into a puddle of syrup in the bedroom. Her mouth was not her mouth, it was the crescent moon in the night. Her brain was not her brain, but a bowl of sweet and spicy pig brain. The stars in the sky were obviously the fireworks she exploded.
She wanted to fly out of the window and use a megaphone to alert everyone in the town that her meng CP had delivered sugar!!!!
She instantly watched this ten-minute video twice. When it came to the third time, she covered her heart with one hand and put the other hand on the pause button. She halted after playing practically every frame for concern that her heart would not be able to withstand it triggering blood reflux. After seeing it three times in a row, she took a deep breath and dropped on the bed. She felt that the love filling the screen was threatening to suffocate her.
After calming herself with difficulty for a long period, she logged on to the forum to locate a post to discuss. As she suspected, the most debated post on the forum was regarding this topic.
Because the landlord was not a CP fan, the main post's content was about An Ruifeng's "dumb cuteness." He stated that after watching the video clip, he thought the silly Prince An was very cute (the landlord used this word boldly), but he didn't expect him to make such a ridiculous mistake after living in Panda Country for so many years.
The discussion in the comments section below this post was very lively. Everyone laughed one after the other, and one of the more enthusiastic fans expressed a desire to personally teach An Ruifeng what fáng shì was. Li Xiaoyu went to the other party's homepage and discovered that it was actually a male fan!
Work stolen from https://chipoholictranslations.blogspot.com
As a result, after a few floors of reading, a discordant voice appeared.
"I predicted that as soon as the video was released, the fans of a minor celebrity who has left the circle would begin to jump again. He held Prince An's thigh before leaving the circle, and he's still selling rot after leaving? Prince An made a point of going 'alone' to get the talisman, hehe."
Li Xiaoyu didn't even need to visit the dissenting party's homepage. She knew who was causing trouble - it had to be the CP demolishing duì jiā! [family of proposed marriage partner.]
An Ruifeng had a large number of CP fans. Many of the actresses who had worked with him had hyped up dating scandals with him, but An Ruifeng hadn't been particularly close to any of them. Two rotten CP groups had gradually grown with roughly the same number of fans in each group since a year ago. The two sides were "as incompatible as fire and water," practically fighting each other whenever they met.
One of the CP powder groups was AnLing powder, where Li Xiaoyu belonged, while the other was an incomparably evil cult - it was actually the brothers CP powder An Ruifeng x Andrew...
No way! Uncle, we don't eat this CP!
When Andrew first returned to his home country, he and An Ruifeng participated on several shows together. The two were blood brothers and grew up in Maple Leaf Country. There were endless embraces, pats on the shoulders, and cheek kisses to convey their happiness. In addition, they were both gorgeous. Brothers CP powder sprouted up overnight like mushrooms in an autumn forest, and poked their heads in the pile of maple leaves all over the ground.
As the boss of AnLing fandom, Li Xiaoyu worked her heart out to write articles, photoshop pictures, and make MVs. Relying on her eyes that were excellent at discovering gay love and the bottomless black hole in her brain, she had accumulated a basket of meng points. After that, she made door-to-door sales like The Little Match Girl and managed to sell a few meng points with tremendous difficulty, gathering a surge of fans... In the end, the duì jiā always set off Some! Big! Trick!
Today, the brothers attended a certain red carpet event together. Tomorrow, the brothers endorsed such-and-such product together. The day after tomorrow, the brothers were photographed shopping for clothes together. This pair of demonic brothers merely needed to stand there, and the CP powder gathered instantly like bees that smelled nectar.
Now that their AnLing CP finally gave out candy, the duì jiā actually came out to criticize and ridicule. Li Xiaoyu was like a hydrogen balloon that ran into Mars and exploded quickly.
She clicked on the reply tab furiously, and tap-tap-tap composed a long paragraph.
Fenglin Whisperer: Yes, I want to put some CP powder on my face. The brothers walk to a convenience store and you obscenely remark they went to buy condoms, but you're not content seeing a talisman in Ling Xi's wallet. Little Princess's hands are far too long. Was that Taoist temple built by your family? Was the ink on the talisman paper donated by your family? Did you drop that wallet? If not, what are you foolishly arguing about!
Within a minute after her reply was delivered, many private messages came in from the back-end. She had engaged in many fights previously, but never once did so many people send her private messages. She went to check in uncertainty, but saw that all the private messages said one thing—
XXX: Fenglin Whisperer, I didn't expect you to be an AnLing CP powder!
Only then did Li Xiaoyu realize she had forgotten to switch her account. In her desperation, she had forgotten to login to her secret nympho CP secondary account and had responded straight using her primary account. Her main ID was well-known in the fandom. She had numerous times arranged for Maple Leaves to engage in activities, and she had even communicated with Xu Zhiqiang, An Ruifeng's agent. Now, such a "heavyweight" member of the fan group actually exposed her identity as a rotten CP fan, which was immediately followed by busybodies stripping her of the special alternate account created for her fanfics, which many pure An Ruifeng fans found unacceptable, to the point where some people demanded that she be expelled from her powder membership and stripped of her position as the group's deputy head.
When confronted with little ignorant c*nts, Li Xiaoyu merely chuckled and ignored them. Anyway, she'd now revealed her identity, so she simply spent 999 forum coins (equal to 999 Panda Country currency) to edit the forum alternate account she'd used for three years, and then argued with the posters under the brand-new "Fengling Whisper" ID.
She was an expert at scolding the opposing party and making them cry without saying a single foul word. She was on fire, and it wasn't long before those who were clamoring for her expulsion went offline quietly.
Li Xiaoyu, who had won by a landslide, raised her chin in front of the screen, snorted in derision as she rose from her bed, and dressed in high spirits.
Her meng CP had sent sugar today, and she was going out to buy, buy, buy.
Li Xiaoyu was a demure and polite girl in real life, despite her bold and vigorous online persona. Her wardrobe consisted largely of exquisite dresses. With her waist-length curly hair and well-matched accessories, she was a typical lady no matter which way you looked.
Many guys enjoyed flaunting themselves in front of her, but they had no idea that when they spoke, the barrage of roasting in her head was thick enough to cover their faces.
After getting dressed, Li Xiaoyu headed to a certain business street. When the cab was still two kilometers from the commercial district, traffic coordinators blocked the highway with barriers to direct traffic around the front.
Li Xiaoyu lowered the car window and inquired as to why they were unable to enter.
The coordinator motioned to the front of the rod: "A show is being recorded ahead. Cars are not permitted to enter, however pedestrians can enter."
Li Xiaoyu considered it and indicated for the cab to pull over. She saw celebrities a lot because she was pursuing An Ruifeng everywhere, so she wasn't as interested in watching stars record shows as other people. She came here today solely to go shopping. She simply walked in because pedestrians were permitted. In any case, two kilometers was not far away, so she saw it as exercise.
She stepped out of the car and began walking down the business street. The location at which the driver pulled over was not on the main road. Rather, it was at the beginning of a narrow lane. It was nearly midday, and the alley should have been deserted, but there were numerous older women standing at the door, squinting and basking in the sun. Li Xiaoyu strolled across the alley, her face expressionless. In fact, she was mentally replaying the sugar she ate in the morning.
Just as she passed the intersection of the two alleys, a woman dressed in sportswear dashed out of the intersection. The woman grasped Li Xiaoyu's hand and spoke swiftly, before Li Xiaoyu could scream in fear: "Hello! Do you know me? My name is Zhu Linlin. We're currently filming a show, and the other guests are after me. Can I swap clothes with you?"
Li Xiaoyu took a closer look and discovered that the woman who made the audacious request was indeed Zhu Linlin, the wildly successful variety show actress this year. Zhu Linlin was on a roll these days. She used to be a little-known singer but had somehow hugged the thigh of an outdoor variety show. She immediately transitioned from a temporary guest to a resident cast member because she was physically active, unassuming, both good-looking and "vicious and cruel." Her popularity had progressively increased, and several variety programs had paid a lot of money to have her.
Li Xiaoyu knew her before she was famous. She had listened to her songs and understood that she and Ling Xi debuted at the same time, and that her music was dynamic and seductive, similar to dance music, but people didn't buy it. The most crucial point was that she and Ling Xi had long been rumored to be in a relationship, and she also starred in "Jian Jue Tianxia." In the hearts of CP powder, she was "An Ruifeng's love rival" and "Ling Xi's ex-girlfriend." Some CP fans who shot their mouths off also referred to her as the offensive "third party."
Li Xiaoyu, on the other hand, bore her no ill will. On the contrary, she enjoyed her show a lot. She asked, looking behind Zhu Linlin: "Are you participating in a program? Did you ditch your camera team again?"
Zhu Linlin laughed heartily: "You appear to be a regular viewer of the show. Prior to my debut, I participated in athletics, concentrating in triathlons. I can outrun regular men in high heels, not to mention the fact that he's carrying a camera. Come on, let's go change our clothing..." She paused and stared at Li Xiaoyu for a few seconds before asking, "Miss, have we met before?"
Zhu Linlin nodded, as if answering her own question, rather than waiting for Li Xiaoyu to ridicule her late-action way of striking up a conversation: "So it's you, I recognize you. Aren't you named something something yu?"
Zhu Linlin was delighted by Li Xiaoyu's worried expression.
Zhu Linlin admired her expression for three seconds with satisfaction before answering her questions readily. Zhu Linlin was not the type of person who liked to keep people on edge. Being blunt suited her personality better. "You're a fan of An Ruifeng, right? If I'm not mistaken, you're the fan group's leader, right? When our team visited S and N cities to promote, you arranged a group of little girls to pick him up, as well as a lot of bouquets and tea-time snacks for the press conference."
Li Xiaoyu felt that this female star was quite attentive, and exclaimed: "You have a good memory."
"It depends on the individual. Big breasted beauties always leave a deep impression on me," Zhu Linlin said with a small smile.
"......"
They randomly picked a public restroom by the wayside to switch their clothing, and by the time the two of them stepped out, Zhu Linlin had transformed into an intellectual beauty. She lowered the brim of the wide-brimmed sun hat, and checked her disguise in the window of a storefront with delight, confidently asserting: "With the way I'm dressed currently, no one from the show team can recognize me from behind."
She hardly finished speaking, when numerous staff members rushed in helter-skelter from the entrance of the alley. One of them carried a camera, someone had a notepad, some were carrying audio equipment, while others who seemed to be assistants followed them anxiously like a swarm of bees. They were yelling as they rushed, "Aiya! That great aunt truly is all legs under her neck. Where did she run away?"
Li Xiaoyu: "..." A compass(drafting) is all legs under the neck, right?
Before the two parted, Zhu Linlin and Li Xiaoyu exchanged phone numbers, agreeing that following the recording of the show, Zhu Linlin would launder the clothing and send them to Li Xiaoyu's home.
Li Xiaoyu thought it was a very intriguing experience. She casually went out shopping and bumped into the recording site of the show. She also traded clothes with a female star, and obtained her phone number. Each of these events was enough to turn into a topic of idle talk. Coupled with the sugar put out by her meng CP this morning, this day was utterly dreamy.
Before turning around and fleeing, Zhu Linlin expressed her gratitude to Li Xiaoyu once more: "Thank you very much for your clothes. They'll be quite useful in the next segment - by the way, you have a fantastic figure. I can't just take your clothes. I can help you if you need a celebrity's autograph and a group photo."
Li Xiaoyu's ears flushed with embarrassment at her compliment. After hearing Zhu Linlin's words, she instantly shook her head: "No, no, there is no need. I'm just interested in two stars right now, and I have their signatures, so there's no need to trouble you."
"Two?" Zhu Linlin cocked her brows and stared into Li Xiaoyu's eyes, smiling faintly. She suddenly took a step forward, closing the gap between them, and kissed her pink face, leaving a light lipstick mark, before Li Xiaoyu could react.
Work stolen from https://chipoholictranslations.blogspot.com
"In that case, consider this kiss a thank-you gift." Zhu Linlin took a healthy step back, raised her right hand, brought her index and middle fingers close to her head, and swung her wrist to salute the little beauty who was scared by her. "I also hope that when we meet again, I can become the third star you like."
She lowered her torso, moved her ankles, and dashed towards the business street like a swift leopard. The broad skirt swayed in the breeze, like flowers in the air.
It took a long time for Li Xiaoyu, who had been left in the same spot, to regain her composure. She reached out her hand to hold herself against the wall beside her, concerned that her legs, which were as soft as noodles, wouldn't be able to support her body.
—No one would believe that she was sexually harassed by the "third party" in her meng CP...
The host laughed, asking if the talisman in An Ruifeng's hand matched Ling Xi's talisman.
An Ruifeng burst out laughing: "How is it even possible? I went to the Taoist temple by myself a few months back and requested this talisman. You are welcome to take a look at it." He displayed his talisman as he said this, but the vermillion calligraphy on it was too elegant. The camera swept over it, but the content was obscured.
When the host inquired about the talisman, An Ruifeng replied: "This is my fáng shì hé xié talisman. This wish has come true, so I can show it to you whenever I want and let everyone share my joy."
The host's face blanched, her red lips opening wide enough to swallow an apple. She repeatedly asked An Ruifeng if he had a lover. She understood that if this information was exposed on their show, there would be a riot among fans and the show's ratings would skyrocket.
The male star, who had enthralled thousands of fans, seemed perplexed in front of the camera: "What lover? Isn't fáng shì hé xié used for buying a house? I just purchased a couple houses as an investment, and everything went smoothly, so I declared that my wish had come true." [fáng shì means sexual intercourse. Ruifeng meant mǎi fáng: to buy a house.]
In the camera shot, his agent Xu-ge, who was highly familiar to fans, walked over with a dark face and murmured a few words in his ear. An Ruifeng's demeanor changed from surprise to shame. Then, he coughed nervously and said to the cameraman, "Oh!... So that's what fáng shì means. I'm sorry. You know that I grew up in Maple Leaf Country so there are some Panda Country words that I don't understand very well. I made a joke."
After such humorous little tidbits were disclosed, fans discussed heatedly, and Li Xiaoyu, a die-hard An Ruifeng x Ling Xi CP fan, had melted into a puddle of syrup in the bedroom. Her mouth was not her mouth, it was the crescent moon in the night. Her brain was not her brain, but a bowl of sweet and spicy pig brain. The stars in the sky were obviously the fireworks she exploded.
She wanted to fly out of the window and use a megaphone to alert everyone in the town that her meng CP had delivered sugar!!!!
She instantly watched this ten-minute video twice. When it came to the third time, she covered her heart with one hand and put the other hand on the pause button. She halted after playing practically every frame for concern that her heart would not be able to withstand it triggering blood reflux. After seeing it three times in a row, she took a deep breath and dropped on the bed. She felt that the love filling the screen was threatening to suffocate her.
After calming herself with difficulty for a long period, she logged on to the forum to locate a post to discuss. As she suspected, the most debated post on the forum was regarding this topic.
Because the landlord was not a CP fan, the main post's content was about An Ruifeng's "dumb cuteness." He stated that after watching the video clip, he thought the silly Prince An was very cute (the landlord used this word boldly), but he didn't expect him to make such a ridiculous mistake after living in Panda Country for so many years.
The discussion in the comments section below this post was very lively. Everyone laughed one after the other, and one of the more enthusiastic fans expressed a desire to personally teach An Ruifeng what fáng shì was. Li Xiaoyu went to the other party's homepage and discovered that it was actually a male fan!
Work stolen from https://chipoholictranslations.blogspot.com
As a result, after a few floors of reading, a discordant voice appeared.
"I predicted that as soon as the video was released, the fans of a minor celebrity who has left the circle would begin to jump again. He held Prince An's thigh before leaving the circle, and he's still selling rot after leaving? Prince An made a point of going 'alone' to get the talisman, hehe."
Li Xiaoyu didn't even need to visit the dissenting party's homepage. She knew who was causing trouble - it had to be the CP demolishing duì jiā! [family of proposed marriage partner.]
An Ruifeng had a large number of CP fans. Many of the actresses who had worked with him had hyped up dating scandals with him, but An Ruifeng hadn't been particularly close to any of them. Two rotten CP groups had gradually grown with roughly the same number of fans in each group since a year ago. The two sides were "as incompatible as fire and water," practically fighting each other whenever they met.
One of the CP powder groups was AnLing powder, where Li Xiaoyu belonged, while the other was an incomparably evil cult - it was actually the brothers CP powder An Ruifeng x Andrew...
No way! Uncle, we don't eat this CP!
When Andrew first returned to his home country, he and An Ruifeng participated on several shows together. The two were blood brothers and grew up in Maple Leaf Country. There were endless embraces, pats on the shoulders, and cheek kisses to convey their happiness. In addition, they were both gorgeous. Brothers CP powder sprouted up overnight like mushrooms in an autumn forest, and poked their heads in the pile of maple leaves all over the ground.
As the boss of AnLing fandom, Li Xiaoyu worked her heart out to write articles, photoshop pictures, and make MVs. Relying on her eyes that were excellent at discovering gay love and the bottomless black hole in her brain, she had accumulated a basket of meng points. After that, she made door-to-door sales like The Little Match Girl and managed to sell a few meng points with tremendous difficulty, gathering a surge of fans... In the end, the duì jiā always set off Some! Big! Trick!
Today, the brothers attended a certain red carpet event together. Tomorrow, the brothers endorsed such-and-such product together. The day after tomorrow, the brothers were photographed shopping for clothes together. This pair of demonic brothers merely needed to stand there, and the CP powder gathered instantly like bees that smelled nectar.
Now that their AnLing CP finally gave out candy, the duì jiā actually came out to criticize and ridicule. Li Xiaoyu was like a hydrogen balloon that ran into Mars and exploded quickly.
She clicked on the reply tab furiously, and tap-tap-tap composed a long paragraph.
Fenglin Whisperer: Yes, I want to put some CP powder on my face. The brothers walk to a convenience store and you obscenely remark they went to buy condoms, but you're not content seeing a talisman in Ling Xi's wallet. Little Princess's hands are far too long. Was that Taoist temple built by your family? Was the ink on the talisman paper donated by your family? Did you drop that wallet? If not, what are you foolishly arguing about!
Within a minute after her reply was delivered, many private messages came in from the back-end. She had engaged in many fights previously, but never once did so many people send her private messages. She went to check in uncertainty, but saw that all the private messages said one thing—
XXX: Fenglin Whisperer, I didn't expect you to be an AnLing CP powder!
Only then did Li Xiaoyu realize she had forgotten to switch her account. In her desperation, she had forgotten to login to her secret nympho CP secondary account and had responded straight using her primary account. Her main ID was well-known in the fandom. She had numerous times arranged for Maple Leaves to engage in activities, and she had even communicated with Xu Zhiqiang, An Ruifeng's agent. Now, such a "heavyweight" member of the fan group actually exposed her identity as a rotten CP fan, which was immediately followed by busybodies stripping her of the special alternate account created for her fanfics, which many pure An Ruifeng fans found unacceptable, to the point where some people demanded that she be expelled from her powder membership and stripped of her position as the group's deputy head.
When confronted with little ignorant c*nts, Li Xiaoyu merely chuckled and ignored them. Anyway, she'd now revealed her identity, so she simply spent 999 forum coins (equal to 999 Panda Country currency) to edit the forum alternate account she'd used for three years, and then argued with the posters under the brand-new "Fengling Whisper" ID.
She was an expert at scolding the opposing party and making them cry without saying a single foul word. She was on fire, and it wasn't long before those who were clamoring for her expulsion went offline quietly.
Li Xiaoyu, who had won by a landslide, raised her chin in front of the screen, snorted in derision as she rose from her bed, and dressed in high spirits.
Her meng CP had sent sugar today, and she was going out to buy, buy, buy.
Li Xiaoyu was a demure and polite girl in real life, despite her bold and vigorous online persona. Her wardrobe consisted largely of exquisite dresses. With her waist-length curly hair and well-matched accessories, she was a typical lady no matter which way you looked.
Many guys enjoyed flaunting themselves in front of her, but they had no idea that when they spoke, the barrage of roasting in her head was thick enough to cover their faces.
After getting dressed, Li Xiaoyu headed to a certain business street. When the cab was still two kilometers from the commercial district, traffic coordinators blocked the highway with barriers to direct traffic around the front.
Li Xiaoyu lowered the car window and inquired as to why they were unable to enter.
The coordinator motioned to the front of the rod: "A show is being recorded ahead. Cars are not permitted to enter, however pedestrians can enter."
Li Xiaoyu considered it and indicated for the cab to pull over. She saw celebrities a lot because she was pursuing An Ruifeng everywhere, so she wasn't as interested in watching stars record shows as other people. She came here today solely to go shopping. She simply walked in because pedestrians were permitted. In any case, two kilometers was not far away, so she saw it as exercise.
She stepped out of the car and began walking down the business street. The location at which the driver pulled over was not on the main road. Rather, it was at the beginning of a narrow lane. It was nearly midday, and the alley should have been deserted, but there were numerous older women standing at the door, squinting and basking in the sun. Li Xiaoyu strolled across the alley, her face expressionless. In fact, she was mentally replaying the sugar she ate in the morning.
Just as she passed the intersection of the two alleys, a woman dressed in sportswear dashed out of the intersection. The woman grasped Li Xiaoyu's hand and spoke swiftly, before Li Xiaoyu could scream in fear: "Hello! Do you know me? My name is Zhu Linlin. We're currently filming a show, and the other guests are after me. Can I swap clothes with you?"
Li Xiaoyu took a closer look and discovered that the woman who made the audacious request was indeed Zhu Linlin, the wildly successful variety show actress this year. Zhu Linlin was on a roll these days. She used to be a little-known singer but had somehow hugged the thigh of an outdoor variety show. She immediately transitioned from a temporary guest to a resident cast member because she was physically active, unassuming, both good-looking and "vicious and cruel." Her popularity had progressively increased, and several variety programs had paid a lot of money to have her.
Li Xiaoyu knew her before she was famous. She had listened to her songs and understood that she and Ling Xi debuted at the same time, and that her music was dynamic and seductive, similar to dance music, but people didn't buy it. The most crucial point was that she and Ling Xi had long been rumored to be in a relationship, and she also starred in "Jian Jue Tianxia." In the hearts of CP powder, she was "An Ruifeng's love rival" and "Ling Xi's ex-girlfriend." Some CP fans who shot their mouths off also referred to her as the offensive "third party."
Li Xiaoyu, on the other hand, bore her no ill will. On the contrary, she enjoyed her show a lot. She asked, looking behind Zhu Linlin: "Are you participating in a program? Did you ditch your camera team again?"
Zhu Linlin laughed heartily: "You appear to be a regular viewer of the show. Prior to my debut, I participated in athletics, concentrating in triathlons. I can outrun regular men in high heels, not to mention the fact that he's carrying a camera. Come on, let's go change our clothing..." She paused and stared at Li Xiaoyu for a few seconds before asking, "Miss, have we met before?"
Zhu Linlin nodded, as if answering her own question, rather than waiting for Li Xiaoyu to ridicule her late-action way of striking up a conversation: "So it's you, I recognize you. Aren't you named something something yu?"
Zhu Linlin was delighted by Li Xiaoyu's worried expression.
Zhu Linlin admired her expression for three seconds with satisfaction before answering her questions readily. Zhu Linlin was not the type of person who liked to keep people on edge. Being blunt suited her personality better. "You're a fan of An Ruifeng, right? If I'm not mistaken, you're the fan group's leader, right? When our team visited S and N cities to promote, you arranged a group of little girls to pick him up, as well as a lot of bouquets and tea-time snacks for the press conference."
Li Xiaoyu felt that this female star was quite attentive, and exclaimed: "You have a good memory."
"It depends on the individual. Big breasted beauties always leave a deep impression on me," Zhu Linlin said with a small smile.
"......"
They randomly picked a public restroom by the wayside to switch their clothing, and by the time the two of them stepped out, Zhu Linlin had transformed into an intellectual beauty. She lowered the brim of the wide-brimmed sun hat, and checked her disguise in the window of a storefront with delight, confidently asserting: "With the way I'm dressed currently, no one from the show team can recognize me from behind."
She hardly finished speaking, when numerous staff members rushed in helter-skelter from the entrance of the alley. One of them carried a camera, someone had a notepad, some were carrying audio equipment, while others who seemed to be assistants followed them anxiously like a swarm of bees. They were yelling as they rushed, "Aiya! That great aunt truly is all legs under her neck. Where did she run away?"
Li Xiaoyu: "..." A compass(drafting) is all legs under the neck, right?
Before the two parted, Zhu Linlin and Li Xiaoyu exchanged phone numbers, agreeing that following the recording of the show, Zhu Linlin would launder the clothing and send them to Li Xiaoyu's home.
Li Xiaoyu thought it was a very intriguing experience. She casually went out shopping and bumped into the recording site of the show. She also traded clothes with a female star, and obtained her phone number. Each of these events was enough to turn into a topic of idle talk. Coupled with the sugar put out by her meng CP this morning, this day was utterly dreamy.
Before turning around and fleeing, Zhu Linlin expressed her gratitude to Li Xiaoyu once more: "Thank you very much for your clothes. They'll be quite useful in the next segment - by the way, you have a fantastic figure. I can't just take your clothes. I can help you if you need a celebrity's autograph and a group photo."
Li Xiaoyu's ears flushed with embarrassment at her compliment. After hearing Zhu Linlin's words, she instantly shook her head: "No, no, there is no need. I'm just interested in two stars right now, and I have their signatures, so there's no need to trouble you."
"Two?" Zhu Linlin cocked her brows and stared into Li Xiaoyu's eyes, smiling faintly. She suddenly took a step forward, closing the gap between them, and kissed her pink face, leaving a light lipstick mark, before Li Xiaoyu could react.
Work stolen from https://chipoholictranslations.blogspot.com
"In that case, consider this kiss a thank-you gift." Zhu Linlin took a healthy step back, raised her right hand, brought her index and middle fingers close to her head, and swung her wrist to salute the little beauty who was scared by her. "I also hope that when we meet again, I can become the third star you like."
She lowered her torso, moved her ankles, and dashed towards the business street like a swift leopard. The broad skirt swayed in the breeze, like flowers in the air.
It took a long time for Li Xiaoyu, who had been left in the same spot, to regain her composure. She reached out her hand to hold herself against the wall beside her, concerned that her legs, which were as soft as noodles, wouldn't be able to support her body.
—No one would believe that she was sexually harassed by the "third party" in her meng CP...
Extra 1: The business of raising a dog
After Ling Xi and An Ruifeng had been together for three years, An Ruifeng became more and more popular and often left for many months to shoot a movie. Ling Xi, on the other hand, entrusted his Ling Ling Xi milk tea empire to a competent manager he'd recruited to help him take care of the food company, and lazed happily at home every day waiting to count the money.
The unequal workload led to Ling Xi feeling unbearably lonely. Seeing An Ruifeng busy day in and day out while he kept idle picking his feet was truly dull.
Work stolen from https://chipoholictranslations.blogspot.com
So after a sweet reunion one night, Ling Xi put forth his concerns. He wanted an annoying and cute big-eyed tiny thing that would act like a spoiled child to him and relieve his loneliness, so that when An Ruifeng left him to go to work, he would have someone to play with, ah no, have someone to worry about.
An Ruifeng held him and said after a minute of silence, "Although I don't think now is the ideal time, if you really want a child, I will ask Xu-ge to help us find a reputable surrogate pregnancy service. Let's go donate sperm together."
Ling Xi stated sternly: "...AnAn, there can only be one person in our family who sucks my lower body."
An Ruifeng: "...So what do you want?"
Ling Xi: "I want a dog."
An Ruifeng agreed that this was an effective method to alleviate loneliness. Zhu Linlin always referred to them as a couple of dog men. In retrospect, there was certainly a missing dog at home. In his heart, he agreed, but he purposefully voiced a different opinion: "But I thought there was only one being in this family who would shake their ass at me."
Ling Xi was horrified: "Does that mean you'd go to hump dogs if I can't satisfy you?"
An Ruifeng was both amused and irritated, and he demonstrated how a so-called dog-humping was done.
An Ruifeng rushed to the airport with his suitcase the next morning. He'd returned home the day before by asking for a leave of absence from the director. He arrived home at 10 p.m. and departed at 6 a.m. today, having not slept for nearly the whole night. Ling Xi lingered in bed until five o'clock in the afternoon, then dilly-dallied in getting out of bed and washing up. He was wondering about where he could acquire a dog to comfort his lonely heart while eating his first meal of the day.
After some consideration, he remembered the new dog dad, Wu Youpeng.
Wu Youpeng was Ling Xi's former agent. When Ling Xi left the entertainment industry, Wu Youpeng left his prior position and went to work for An Ruifeng's older brother Andrew. Wu Youpeng's burden became heavier and heavier as the An family brothers rose to fame. It was reasonable to conclude that the nature of his job was unsuitable for raising a dog. However, raising a dog was similar to looking for a spouse. You never know when that furry little thing may run into your heart - Wu Youpeng picked up a dog from the garage three months ago and became a silly dog dad.
Ling Xi requested a meeting with Wu Youpeng. Wu Youpeng had a busy schedule and couldn't make time to see him, so he asked Ling Xi to see him at the film studio.
Ling Xi did not visit empty-handed. Before going there, he stopped at Ling Ling Xi and ordered fifty cups of milk tea. He was now a local money-bag, and no matter which crew he visited, he always brought the aroma of milk tea with him.
Andrew had spent three years in his home country, working slowly and diligently. As a result, just two films were made. The second film was currently in the promotion stage. Andrew arranged for an exclusive interview with a men's fashion magazine with Wang LiLi, with whom he was working for the second time. Ling Xi had brought enough milk tea for everyone in the studio. The editor in charge of the magazine cheerfully urged everyone to take a break and resume work after drinking the milk tea.
Wu Youpeng and his family's dog were in their "madly in love" phase. Eight of the ten images on his phone were of the dog selling meng. The chubby and foolish dog glanced at the screen with watery eyes. Even the most cold-blooded tough guy would soften beneath such a gaze. Ling Xi came over to question him about his experience raising a dog, but was forced to view a ten-minute cute pet video.
After presenting the clips and images on his cell phone, Wu Youpeng suddenly revealed a sad face: "Hey, don't look at it as being so cute, in fact, it's quite horrible when it causes trouble. It chews the sofa today, and pees on the floor tomorrow, it's quite foolish. No matter how I teach, it doesn't learn... Other people's pets can bow, shake hands, even carry slippers. As for this idiotic dog in my family, it's wonderful if it doesn't cause trouble."
Ling Xi was rather distressed after hearing this: "It must be tiring to raise such a dog, right?"
Wu Youpeng glanced at him: "It's alright. It's not as tiring as raising you."
Ling Xi: "..."
Andrew sat down on the sofa and asked Ling Xi what prompted his visit to the studio today.
Ling Xi said: "I'd like to raise a dog, but no one around me has done so. Wu-ge has recently been raising a dog, so I came over to consult with him."
Andrew concurred: "It's a good idea to raise a dog. Dogs are very much like you. They have a lively personality and a strong attachment to their home. What breed of dog would you like to raise?"
Ling Xi stated that he had not considered it.
Andrew: "Why don't you get yourself a corgi? This breed has grown in popularity in recent years. It's both silly and adorable."
Wang LiLi was walking by, sipping milk tea. His face was flushed with surprise: "What kind of exotic dog is this? The name is quite yellow!" [Corgi is kē jī and jī is gay(in slang). Tbh, it doesn't sound funny to me.]
※※※
Ling Xi had a phobia of choice. At first, he only wanted to raise a dog, but as he actually looked into it, he learned that there were many knacks to raise a dog. Simply selecting the dog breed made him dither for quite a while.
After picking and choosing, he settled on getting an Afghan Hound. People who liked this dog truly liked it, and felt it's long legs were lovely, while those who disliked it likewise sincerely disliked it, thinking that its hip bones were too narrow and its face was too long.
No matter what others said, Ling Xi fell in love with this breed of dog the first time he saw it. He felt that it had a superstar style, graceful appearance and noble attitude, much like An Ruifeng.
But he hesitated again before he started to look for one. He heard that this kind of dog was not particularly intelligent and reckoned that it was more difficult to train than Wu Youpeng's dog.
An Ruifeng questioned helplessly: "How high do you need the dog's IQ to be?"
Ling Xi remarked, "Not very high. Ideally, it should go for a walk on its own, bathe and tidy up its toys by itself, and scoop out dog food from the dog food bag itself."
An Ruifeng: "...I've seen only one dog with such a high IQ. You."
With all this dithering, Ling Xi's great cause of adopting a pet dog was delayed. Ling Xi postponed it so much that Ling Xi actually ran into a dog with a high IQ that met his expectations.
— It was the little ancestor, the dog actor he'd worked with in the TV drama "Jian Jue Tianxia" four years ago.
Ling Xi was baffled when he received a call from the little ancestor's trainer. At the time, the members of the crew had exchanged phone numbers. Because the little ancestor lacked a phone number, the trainer contacted the others on its behalf. It was just that the two people hadn't contacted each other after filming ended, and Ling Xi had forgotten the other party's name after all this time.
Work stolen from https://chipoholictranslations.blogspot.com
When the trainer introduced himself, he was embarrassed. Fortunately, Ling Xi remembered who he was right away.
"It's like this, Mr. Ling. I learned from friends in the circle that you've been thinking of getting a smart and cute pet dog; I wonder if it's true. Do you remember the little ancestor? It is old and it is about to retire. I recall you loving it a lot. It can't jump through fire hoops or do somersaults like it used to, but it can still bring you a lot of joy. Are you interested in adopting it?"
Ling Xi was a little surprised: "Retire? How old is it?"
"It'll be ten years old after the new year. Last year, it broke its leg while filming and took a rest for half a year. After it came back, it couldn't get a job for a long time. Because of this, it can't be raised any longer so I'm looking for someone who can adopt it." The trainer sighed: "There are new animal actors debuting in this circle all the time, and hybrid dogs are not popular these days. Everyone likes the adorably silly and teddy husky."
When Ling Xi heard this, he felt terrible. Dog performers had to make the most of their youth in their choice of work as well. It was suppressed by new dogs after it had faded from public view for a period of time. "Okay, no problem. When can I get it?"
"The sooner, the better. We can complete the adoption procedures on the same day."
When Ling Xi heard this, he hung up the phone and went straight to the Animal Performers' School. He already had dog food and a kennel at home. He only needed a dog to live in it. He agreed with Wu Youpeng that you never know when a little furry guy will bump into your heart.
The Animal Performers' School was located in the outskirts of B city. When Ling Xi arrived, it was afternoon, and the trainer was guiding the dogs around the playground. Ling Xi recognized the figure with a yellow back, white belly, fluffy tail, and upright ears even though he hadn't seen it in years. The little ancestor had slipped to the back of the pack and was running at a moderate pace, seeming out of place among the purebred canines.
When the trainer saw Ling Xi come, he ordered the other dogs to sit and rest before leading the little ancestor over to greet him. Despite the fact that they hadn't seen each other in a long time, the little ancestor remembered Ling Xi's scent. The little ancestor leapt into Ling Xi's arms when he bent down and let it sniff his fingers, just like when they first met four years ago.
Ling Xi hugged it and got up, knowing that this was the dog of his dreams.
"You mentioned he broke his leg last year?" Ling Xi compassionately kissed its small paw: "I think it's quite good. I just watched it run fine."
The trainer shook his head: "It runs OK on flat ground, but it can't even jump over this is now." He patted the one-meter-high wall next to him.
Ling Xi: "...Even I can't jump over such a high wall, okay?"
A ten-year-old dog was considered an old dog. Even though the animal school's food and medical care were good, the little ancestor's nose had nevertheless faded a lot, and was not as dark as when it was young. After the little ancestor was injured, it was unable to work. Now it couldn't even be a part of an ensemble performance in dog food commercials. The animal school did not keep idle dogs, so the higher ups just asked the trainer to send the little ancestor away.
Ling Xi didn't care that the little ancestor was no longer famous. It was fantastic for it to leave the entertainment circle like him. Anyway, there was already a superstar at home.
After finishing the adoption procedures, Ling Xi said goodbye to the trainer while holding the little ancestor. The little ancestor seemed to have sensed that it would be sent away. It quietly licked the trainer's fingers, then followed Ling Xi into the car without looking back, settling obediently in the front passenger seat.
Ling Xi was about to start the car when the little ancestor leaped onto his lap, stretched out its mouth, and pulled down the seat belt plug on the door, signaling him to plug it in. Ling Xi snapped a quick photo of the scene and forwarded it to An Ruifeng. He was overjoyed and said, "Even if you're not here in the future, you don't have to worry about me forgetting to fasten my seat belt!"
An Ruifeng responded, "Why don't you sit in the passenger seat? I think it's an experienced driver."
※※※
Ling Xi threw a lovely party to celebrate the little ancestor's adoption into the family. Ling Xi gathered all of his pals, and they all brought small gifts. Some folks gave toys, while others brought snacks and pet shampoos. It had the same momentum as if Ling Xi had birthed An Ruifeng a son.
Wu Youpeng brought his dog to the event. The two small dogs hit it off right away. The little ancestor showed his new friend his toy ball and kennel, and the two dogs joyously raced to the garden to play with the ball.
Naturally, Ling Xi praised the little ancestor to high heaven. He stated that it was sensible and obedient, and that raising it was quite worry-free.
An Ruifeng put his hand around Ling Xi's waist and pinched him as he heard the words: "I'm also sensible and obedient, why haven't I heard you praise me?"
Ling Xi was highly aggrieved: "How are you obedient? When I urged you to slow down last night, you didn't listen at all."
Wang LiLi spurted out the tea he'd gulped, and promptly raced away on the pretext of going to the restroom.
Andrew wanted to take care of him, yet he pressed him against the sofa because he wanted to hide their relationship. This made it more noticeable because, while Andrew sat in the living room, his neck was craned as he peered at the bathroom, concerned that Wang LiLi, who was tough on the outside and delicate on the inside, might explode within.
Ling Xi had known they were together for a long time, but Wang LiLi refused to admit it, so he pretended to be deaf and dumb. Ling Xi could finally gossip now that Wang LiLi had left the scene.
Ling Xi: "An-ge, I've always wondered about this...between you and Li-ge, who is the top and who is the bottom?"
Wu Youpeng and Xu Zhiqiang were sitting next to them, pretending not to care, but their ears were perked up.
Andrew chuckled lightly, leaned back on the couch, crossed his legs, and asked, "Who do you think is the top and bottom?"
Ling Xi pondered it for a moment. Andrew was more attractive than An Ruifeng. His beauty had a lot of oomph. Andrew had a domineering personality but Wang LiLi had a strong physique and was one centimeter taller than him...
Even An Ruifeng couldn't figure out the answer to this question. He examined his own brother closely and asked tentatively, "I guess Li-ge is on top?"
Andrew cocked his eyebrow: "We don't use the cowgirl position very often."
Wu Youpeng coughed: "I'm going out to look for the dogs." He genuinely didn't want to sit with the gay guys in this room. He, a straight guy, couldn't understand what they were talking about.
Ling Xi blurted out: "I didn't expect An-ge to be a queen gong!"
Everyone in the room was unfamiliar with this type of Internet jargon. Xu Zhiqiang inquired about the queen gong.
Ling Xi was about to explain, but Andrew interrupted him: "Is there any need to ask? It must be to praise me for being like Queen Elizabeth, vigorous and long-lasting."
Xu Zhiqiang: "...What is taking Old Wu so long? I'll help him find the dogs."
After dinner, everyone took their leave one after another. An Ruifeng placed his arms around Ling Xi, Ling Xi put his arms around the dog, and the dog men and dog stood at the door and watched everyone depart. The family vibe of the two made everyone laugh at them for quite a while, claiming that they appeared like a pair of silly dads no matter how they looked.
Ling Xi kissed his little ancestor's ear, happily taking on the title of silly dad.
After seeing off the visitors, An Ruifeng hugged Ling Xi to take a bath. The little ancestor was born with an intimacy detector. Seeing the two men walking to the bathroom while kissing and touching, it hastily leaped out of Ling Xi's embrace and returned to its nest. It laid down obediently and covered its eyes and ears with its tail, resembling a ball.
Work stolen from https://chipoholictranslations.blogspot.com
An Ruifeng was amused and remarked in Ling Xi's ear, "Look, our son is so clever. He understands his mom and dad want to conduct their proper business."
"What proper business?" His entire body was attached to An Ruifeng as he tore off his own shirt, revealing a vast stretch of flawless white skin and the reddish marks strewn on it.
An Ruifeng pressed him against the bathroom door and licked his collarbone: "For example...giving him a younger brother?"
On hearing this, Ling Xi became boneless from head to toe. He wrapped his arms around An Ruifeng's neck, desperately wishing he could develop into a pair of entwined vines with him right away.
"Before giving him a younger brother, let me lick your little brother."
The unequal workload led to Ling Xi feeling unbearably lonely. Seeing An Ruifeng busy day in and day out while he kept idle picking his feet was truly dull.
Work stolen from https://chipoholictranslations.blogspot.com
So after a sweet reunion one night, Ling Xi put forth his concerns. He wanted an annoying and cute big-eyed tiny thing that would act like a spoiled child to him and relieve his loneliness, so that when An Ruifeng left him to go to work, he would have someone to play with, ah no, have someone to worry about.
An Ruifeng held him and said after a minute of silence, "Although I don't think now is the ideal time, if you really want a child, I will ask Xu-ge to help us find a reputable surrogate pregnancy service. Let's go donate sperm together."
Ling Xi stated sternly: "...AnAn, there can only be one person in our family who sucks my lower body."
An Ruifeng: "...So what do you want?"
Ling Xi: "I want a dog."
An Ruifeng agreed that this was an effective method to alleviate loneliness. Zhu Linlin always referred to them as a couple of dog men. In retrospect, there was certainly a missing dog at home. In his heart, he agreed, but he purposefully voiced a different opinion: "But I thought there was only one being in this family who would shake their ass at me."
Ling Xi was horrified: "Does that mean you'd go to hump dogs if I can't satisfy you?"
An Ruifeng was both amused and irritated, and he demonstrated how a so-called dog-humping was done.
An Ruifeng rushed to the airport with his suitcase the next morning. He'd returned home the day before by asking for a leave of absence from the director. He arrived home at 10 p.m. and departed at 6 a.m. today, having not slept for nearly the whole night. Ling Xi lingered in bed until five o'clock in the afternoon, then dilly-dallied in getting out of bed and washing up. He was wondering about where he could acquire a dog to comfort his lonely heart while eating his first meal of the day.
After some consideration, he remembered the new dog dad, Wu Youpeng.
Wu Youpeng was Ling Xi's former agent. When Ling Xi left the entertainment industry, Wu Youpeng left his prior position and went to work for An Ruifeng's older brother Andrew. Wu Youpeng's burden became heavier and heavier as the An family brothers rose to fame. It was reasonable to conclude that the nature of his job was unsuitable for raising a dog. However, raising a dog was similar to looking for a spouse. You never know when that furry little thing may run into your heart - Wu Youpeng picked up a dog from the garage three months ago and became a silly dog dad.
Ling Xi requested a meeting with Wu Youpeng. Wu Youpeng had a busy schedule and couldn't make time to see him, so he asked Ling Xi to see him at the film studio.
Ling Xi did not visit empty-handed. Before going there, he stopped at Ling Ling Xi and ordered fifty cups of milk tea. He was now a local money-bag, and no matter which crew he visited, he always brought the aroma of milk tea with him.
Andrew had spent three years in his home country, working slowly and diligently. As a result, just two films were made. The second film was currently in the promotion stage. Andrew arranged for an exclusive interview with a men's fashion magazine with Wang LiLi, with whom he was working for the second time. Ling Xi had brought enough milk tea for everyone in the studio. The editor in charge of the magazine cheerfully urged everyone to take a break and resume work after drinking the milk tea.
Wu Youpeng and his family's dog were in their "madly in love" phase. Eight of the ten images on his phone were of the dog selling meng. The chubby and foolish dog glanced at the screen with watery eyes. Even the most cold-blooded tough guy would soften beneath such a gaze. Ling Xi came over to question him about his experience raising a dog, but was forced to view a ten-minute cute pet video.
After presenting the clips and images on his cell phone, Wu Youpeng suddenly revealed a sad face: "Hey, don't look at it as being so cute, in fact, it's quite horrible when it causes trouble. It chews the sofa today, and pees on the floor tomorrow, it's quite foolish. No matter how I teach, it doesn't learn... Other people's pets can bow, shake hands, even carry slippers. As for this idiotic dog in my family, it's wonderful if it doesn't cause trouble."
Ling Xi was rather distressed after hearing this: "It must be tiring to raise such a dog, right?"
Wu Youpeng glanced at him: "It's alright. It's not as tiring as raising you."
Ling Xi: "..."
Andrew sat down on the sofa and asked Ling Xi what prompted his visit to the studio today.
Ling Xi said: "I'd like to raise a dog, but no one around me has done so. Wu-ge has recently been raising a dog, so I came over to consult with him."
Andrew concurred: "It's a good idea to raise a dog. Dogs are very much like you. They have a lively personality and a strong attachment to their home. What breed of dog would you like to raise?"
Ling Xi stated that he had not considered it.
Andrew: "Why don't you get yourself a corgi? This breed has grown in popularity in recent years. It's both silly and adorable."
Wang LiLi was walking by, sipping milk tea. His face was flushed with surprise: "What kind of exotic dog is this? The name is quite yellow!" [Corgi is kē jī and jī is gay(in slang). Tbh, it doesn't sound funny to me.]
※※※
Ling Xi had a phobia of choice. At first, he only wanted to raise a dog, but as he actually looked into it, he learned that there were many knacks to raise a dog. Simply selecting the dog breed made him dither for quite a while.
After picking and choosing, he settled on getting an Afghan Hound. People who liked this dog truly liked it, and felt it's long legs were lovely, while those who disliked it likewise sincerely disliked it, thinking that its hip bones were too narrow and its face was too long.
No matter what others said, Ling Xi fell in love with this breed of dog the first time he saw it. He felt that it had a superstar style, graceful appearance and noble attitude, much like An Ruifeng.
But he hesitated again before he started to look for one. He heard that this kind of dog was not particularly intelligent and reckoned that it was more difficult to train than Wu Youpeng's dog.
An Ruifeng questioned helplessly: "How high do you need the dog's IQ to be?"
Ling Xi remarked, "Not very high. Ideally, it should go for a walk on its own, bathe and tidy up its toys by itself, and scoop out dog food from the dog food bag itself."
An Ruifeng: "...I've seen only one dog with such a high IQ. You."
With all this dithering, Ling Xi's great cause of adopting a pet dog was delayed. Ling Xi postponed it so much that Ling Xi actually ran into a dog with a high IQ that met his expectations.
— It was the little ancestor, the dog actor he'd worked with in the TV drama "Jian Jue Tianxia" four years ago.
Ling Xi was baffled when he received a call from the little ancestor's trainer. At the time, the members of the crew had exchanged phone numbers. Because the little ancestor lacked a phone number, the trainer contacted the others on its behalf. It was just that the two people hadn't contacted each other after filming ended, and Ling Xi had forgotten the other party's name after all this time.
Work stolen from https://chipoholictranslations.blogspot.com
When the trainer introduced himself, he was embarrassed. Fortunately, Ling Xi remembered who he was right away.
"It's like this, Mr. Ling. I learned from friends in the circle that you've been thinking of getting a smart and cute pet dog; I wonder if it's true. Do you remember the little ancestor? It is old and it is about to retire. I recall you loving it a lot. It can't jump through fire hoops or do somersaults like it used to, but it can still bring you a lot of joy. Are you interested in adopting it?"
Ling Xi was a little surprised: "Retire? How old is it?"
"It'll be ten years old after the new year. Last year, it broke its leg while filming and took a rest for half a year. After it came back, it couldn't get a job for a long time. Because of this, it can't be raised any longer so I'm looking for someone who can adopt it." The trainer sighed: "There are new animal actors debuting in this circle all the time, and hybrid dogs are not popular these days. Everyone likes the adorably silly and teddy husky."
When Ling Xi heard this, he felt terrible. Dog performers had to make the most of their youth in their choice of work as well. It was suppressed by new dogs after it had faded from public view for a period of time. "Okay, no problem. When can I get it?"
"The sooner, the better. We can complete the adoption procedures on the same day."
When Ling Xi heard this, he hung up the phone and went straight to the Animal Performers' School. He already had dog food and a kennel at home. He only needed a dog to live in it. He agreed with Wu Youpeng that you never know when a little furry guy will bump into your heart.
The Animal Performers' School was located in the outskirts of B city. When Ling Xi arrived, it was afternoon, and the trainer was guiding the dogs around the playground. Ling Xi recognized the figure with a yellow back, white belly, fluffy tail, and upright ears even though he hadn't seen it in years. The little ancestor had slipped to the back of the pack and was running at a moderate pace, seeming out of place among the purebred canines.
When the trainer saw Ling Xi come, he ordered the other dogs to sit and rest before leading the little ancestor over to greet him. Despite the fact that they hadn't seen each other in a long time, the little ancestor remembered Ling Xi's scent. The little ancestor leapt into Ling Xi's arms when he bent down and let it sniff his fingers, just like when they first met four years ago.
Ling Xi hugged it and got up, knowing that this was the dog of his dreams.
"You mentioned he broke his leg last year?" Ling Xi compassionately kissed its small paw: "I think it's quite good. I just watched it run fine."
The trainer shook his head: "It runs OK on flat ground, but it can't even jump over this is now." He patted the one-meter-high wall next to him.
Ling Xi: "...Even I can't jump over such a high wall, okay?"
A ten-year-old dog was considered an old dog. Even though the animal school's food and medical care were good, the little ancestor's nose had nevertheless faded a lot, and was not as dark as when it was young. After the little ancestor was injured, it was unable to work. Now it couldn't even be a part of an ensemble performance in dog food commercials. The animal school did not keep idle dogs, so the higher ups just asked the trainer to send the little ancestor away.
Ling Xi didn't care that the little ancestor was no longer famous. It was fantastic for it to leave the entertainment circle like him. Anyway, there was already a superstar at home.
After finishing the adoption procedures, Ling Xi said goodbye to the trainer while holding the little ancestor. The little ancestor seemed to have sensed that it would be sent away. It quietly licked the trainer's fingers, then followed Ling Xi into the car without looking back, settling obediently in the front passenger seat.
Ling Xi was about to start the car when the little ancestor leaped onto his lap, stretched out its mouth, and pulled down the seat belt plug on the door, signaling him to plug it in. Ling Xi snapped a quick photo of the scene and forwarded it to An Ruifeng. He was overjoyed and said, "Even if you're not here in the future, you don't have to worry about me forgetting to fasten my seat belt!"
An Ruifeng responded, "Why don't you sit in the passenger seat? I think it's an experienced driver."
※※※
Ling Xi threw a lovely party to celebrate the little ancestor's adoption into the family. Ling Xi gathered all of his pals, and they all brought small gifts. Some folks gave toys, while others brought snacks and pet shampoos. It had the same momentum as if Ling Xi had birthed An Ruifeng a son.
Wu Youpeng brought his dog to the event. The two small dogs hit it off right away. The little ancestor showed his new friend his toy ball and kennel, and the two dogs joyously raced to the garden to play with the ball.
Naturally, Ling Xi praised the little ancestor to high heaven. He stated that it was sensible and obedient, and that raising it was quite worry-free.
An Ruifeng put his hand around Ling Xi's waist and pinched him as he heard the words: "I'm also sensible and obedient, why haven't I heard you praise me?"
Ling Xi was highly aggrieved: "How are you obedient? When I urged you to slow down last night, you didn't listen at all."
Wang LiLi spurted out the tea he'd gulped, and promptly raced away on the pretext of going to the restroom.
Andrew wanted to take care of him, yet he pressed him against the sofa because he wanted to hide their relationship. This made it more noticeable because, while Andrew sat in the living room, his neck was craned as he peered at the bathroom, concerned that Wang LiLi, who was tough on the outside and delicate on the inside, might explode within.
Ling Xi had known they were together for a long time, but Wang LiLi refused to admit it, so he pretended to be deaf and dumb. Ling Xi could finally gossip now that Wang LiLi had left the scene.
Ling Xi: "An-ge, I've always wondered about this...between you and Li-ge, who is the top and who is the bottom?"
Wu Youpeng and Xu Zhiqiang were sitting next to them, pretending not to care, but their ears were perked up.
Andrew chuckled lightly, leaned back on the couch, crossed his legs, and asked, "Who do you think is the top and bottom?"
Ling Xi pondered it for a moment. Andrew was more attractive than An Ruifeng. His beauty had a lot of oomph. Andrew had a domineering personality but Wang LiLi had a strong physique and was one centimeter taller than him...
Even An Ruifeng couldn't figure out the answer to this question. He examined his own brother closely and asked tentatively, "I guess Li-ge is on top?"
Andrew cocked his eyebrow: "We don't use the cowgirl position very often."
Wu Youpeng coughed: "I'm going out to look for the dogs." He genuinely didn't want to sit with the gay guys in this room. He, a straight guy, couldn't understand what they were talking about.
Ling Xi blurted out: "I didn't expect An-ge to be a queen gong!"
Everyone in the room was unfamiliar with this type of Internet jargon. Xu Zhiqiang inquired about the queen gong.
Ling Xi was about to explain, but Andrew interrupted him: "Is there any need to ask? It must be to praise me for being like Queen Elizabeth, vigorous and long-lasting."
Xu Zhiqiang: "...What is taking Old Wu so long? I'll help him find the dogs."
After dinner, everyone took their leave one after another. An Ruifeng placed his arms around Ling Xi, Ling Xi put his arms around the dog, and the dog men and dog stood at the door and watched everyone depart. The family vibe of the two made everyone laugh at them for quite a while, claiming that they appeared like a pair of silly dads no matter how they looked.
Ling Xi kissed his little ancestor's ear, happily taking on the title of silly dad.
After seeing off the visitors, An Ruifeng hugged Ling Xi to take a bath. The little ancestor was born with an intimacy detector. Seeing the two men walking to the bathroom while kissing and touching, it hastily leaped out of Ling Xi's embrace and returned to its nest. It laid down obediently and covered its eyes and ears with its tail, resembling a ball.
Work stolen from https://chipoholictranslations.blogspot.com
An Ruifeng was amused and remarked in Ling Xi's ear, "Look, our son is so clever. He understands his mom and dad want to conduct their proper business."
"What proper business?" His entire body was attached to An Ruifeng as he tore off his own shirt, revealing a vast stretch of flawless white skin and the reddish marks strewn on it.
An Ruifeng pressed him against the bathroom door and licked his collarbone: "For example...giving him a younger brother?"
On hearing this, Ling Xi became boneless from head to toe. He wrapped his arms around An Ruifeng's neck, desperately wishing he could develop into a pair of entwined vines with him right away.
"Before giving him a younger brother, let me lick your little brother."
Chapter 46: The End
One year later.
"Taste delicious food, admire the beautiful scenery, learn about local conditions and customs, and discuss the streets and alleys. Welcome, dear viewers, to the program "Have you tried this?" on B city television station's Travel Satellite TV! I'm your host, Qianqian!" The beautiful hostess blinked in front of the camera, causing her small fan-like fake eyelashes to flutter. Ling Xi, who was standing outside the scene, was concerned about her eyelashes falling out.
"I, Qianqian, will take you to a chain milk tea shop today. Those of you sitting in front of the television must wonder: What makes this milk tea shop unique? In our program, we've always explored the streets and alleys to find snacks. Why did we choose to focus on this particular chain store today? In fact, this store is truly exceptional." The hostess' narration was delightful: "This milk tea shop suddenly opened in several Chinese cities at the same time a year ago. The owner appeared to be wealthy and domineering, and he drew a lot of attention. Their milk tea is not only reasonably priced, but it also tastes fantastic. Their tea bags are said to be air-freighted directly from Hong Kong and their milk is also imported from Sheep Country..." [New Zealand]
For a while, the hostess stood in front of the store and exaggerated wildly. She praised a cup of ordinary milk tea to high heaven, from the raw materials used to the technique to the packaging. Ling Xi, who was standing next to her, blushed slightly when he heard it.
Following the cancellation of the contract with the talent agency, Ling Xi introduced the Ling Ling Xi milk tea store into the market as planned. Initially, he intended to occupy one or two cities. An Ruifeng took the initiative to turn in his passbook, which gave him the confidence to promote in multiple cities at the same time. His selling price was five yuan higher than the average market chain beverage store, but his turnover was consistent due to the advantage provided by carefully selected quality raw materials, along with a small celebrity effect. When Andrew's commercial, starring An Ruifeng, hit the market, the spike in sales was uncontrollable, much like ejaculation.
There were two sorts of Ling Ling Xi milk tea establishments. The first was a milk tea business on the streets and alleyways, where customers couldn't stay and had to leave after purchasing; the second was comparable to a cafe, where the milk tea was served with desserts and cakes with higher consumption, allowing consumers to enjoy delicious food in the store.
Although the investment money had not been fully recovered after one year, it was very close to being returned. It was anticipated that his stores would reach pure profitability within a few months. A year's net profit was quite impressive. He was now worth many times more than he was when he was a minor artist.
"Have you tried this?" was a popular tourism food program. The program team had contacted Ling Xi several times in order to interview him, but he had repeatedly refused. Later, they approached his former agent Wu Youpeng directly to explain the situation, to which Ling Xi reluctantly agreed. He used to be afraid of on-the-spot interviews when he was a performing artist. There was nothing he could say every time he faced the camera's pitch-black lens.
Ling Xi was welcomed into the scene by the hostess, who asked him several questions.
The questions she posed had been discussed in advance with Ling Xi. Ling Xi recited the answers as if they were memorized, following the prescribed answers to the letter. When the interview was about to end, the hostess unexpectedly asked a question that had not been communicated in advance.
The hostess inquired: "Ling Xi, may I ask you one more question? I believe the viewers in front of the television are very interested in this question. For a long time, everyone has been guessing. I'm hoping Boss Ling can give us an answer today."
Ling Xi patiently stated: "What exactly is the question? It cannot involve trade secrets."
"It's definitely not a trade secret!" The hostess extended three fingers and swore: "I've seen many fans on the Internet speculate that Drama King An Ruifeng has a stake in Ling Ling Xi milk tea stores, so he doesn't get any endorsement fee to advertise and endorse Ling Ling Xi milk tea stores. May I ask you to answer this question in our program today?"
If it were not for scruples due to being on camera, Ling Xi genuinely wanted to roll his eyes. Programs these days utilize all kinds of tricks in order to capture ratings. A good food show had to come and try to find out celebrity gossip. Could you please let people sell milk tea happily?
Ling Xi gave an appropriate smile and shrugged in front of the camera: "It looks like I'm going to disappoint everyone. Ling Ling Xi Milk Tea Shop is a chain store that I fully own. An Ruifeng does not hold any shares."
Of course An Ruifeng did not have Ling Ling Xi shares. However, he held Ling Xi shares.
After sending out the gossipy food program crew, Ling Xi stretched his body and returned to the store. Today, "Have you tried this?" chose a branch where desserts and milk tea were sold. The interview time was deliberately set to avoid the peak flow of customers, yet when the interview was over, the shop less than 80 square meters was full with people. There were still numerous young girls queuing at the door.
Ling Xi looked at his watch and summoned a shop assistant to inquire, "It's only past four o'clock now. Why are there so many people?"
The shop assistant employed a "isn't this trouble created by your smiling little fairy" attitude to look at him, and sighed: "Boss, didn't you ask the TV station to come over for an interview? Just now, when the camera team came in, some fans wrongly thought that An Ruifeng would come to this store later, and hurried to An Ruifeng's fan site and posted a message. As a result, this group of people flocked here. Those who are standing at the door refuse to leave. As soon as we go over they want us to take orders. We can't drive away the folks who bought items, right?"
It was no wonder that fans believed that An Ruifeng had a stake in Ling Ling Xi because An Ruifeng's enthusiasm for this store was absolutely strange. Fans had photographed An Ruifeng arriving and leaving the Ling Ling Xi milk tea business on the wayside innumerable times. Ling Ling Xi also delivered dozens of cups of milk tea and dozens of desserts to the cast and crew every week for the team to enjoy during tea break.
"Others are fatigued and lose weight while filming," a certain actress who used to be on the same crew as him complained. "Only in our group is everyone gaining weight. An Ruifeng's tea breaks are absolutely delicious. Occasionally, while reading the script, I unknowingly consume a cup of milk tea. I'm not even going to try to count the calories!"
As a result, when the camera crew arrived today, some fans misinterpreted, believing that the TV station was there to interview An Ruifeng.
The more the fans thought about it, the more suspicious they became of this store. They had visited this store before. Why was the floor so immaculately clean only today? Why did the arrangement of cakes on the sales counter today appear to have been done using a ruler? Why was Ling Xi, the "nominal" boss, only present today? It had to be because An Ruifeng was on his way!
The fans appeared to be incarnations of Sherlock Holmes, their eyes searching for clues inch by inch - look, the TV set in the store is looping An Ruifeng's commercial for Ling Ling Xi. This was a very interesting advertisement shot in the first person. An Ruifeng wore a fresh woolen coat and went for a walk in the snow during the snowy winter. He walked step by step, his gaze fixed on the camera as if he were staring at his sweetheart, a happy and satisfied smile on his face. Outside the scene, the "lover" extended their hand and handed him a cup of milk tea. An Ruifeng bowed his head, sipped his tea, and exhaled, his breath condensing into a misty cloud. He caressed his "lover's" cheek and then went away slowly, holding the "lover's" hand.
From the beginning to the conclusion, An Ruifeng didn't have a line, nor did the person who acted with him appear on screen, yet he caught all the audience just by depending on his expressions, making them feel that he was in a relationship with them.
In the wake of An Ruifeng's fading figure, the commercial theme song written and arranged by Ling Xi himself was inserted at this time—
You've seen so much scenery, am I the one you dream about?
"Taste delicious food, admire the beautiful scenery, learn about local conditions and customs, and discuss the streets and alleys. Welcome, dear viewers, to the program "Have you tried this?" on B city television station's Travel Satellite TV! I'm your host, Qianqian!" The beautiful hostess blinked in front of the camera, causing her small fan-like fake eyelashes to flutter. Ling Xi, who was standing outside the scene, was concerned about her eyelashes falling out.
"I, Qianqian, will take you to a chain milk tea shop today. Those of you sitting in front of the television must wonder: What makes this milk tea shop unique? In our program, we've always explored the streets and alleys to find snacks. Why did we choose to focus on this particular chain store today? In fact, this store is truly exceptional." The hostess' narration was delightful: "This milk tea shop suddenly opened in several Chinese cities at the same time a year ago. The owner appeared to be wealthy and domineering, and he drew a lot of attention. Their milk tea is not only reasonably priced, but it also tastes fantastic. Their tea bags are said to be air-freighted directly from Hong Kong and their milk is also imported from Sheep Country..." [New Zealand]
For a while, the hostess stood in front of the store and exaggerated wildly. She praised a cup of ordinary milk tea to high heaven, from the raw materials used to the technique to the packaging. Ling Xi, who was standing next to her, blushed slightly when he heard it.
Following the cancellation of the contract with the talent agency, Ling Xi introduced the Ling Ling Xi milk tea store into the market as planned. Initially, he intended to occupy one or two cities. An Ruifeng took the initiative to turn in his passbook, which gave him the confidence to promote in multiple cities at the same time. His selling price was five yuan higher than the average market chain beverage store, but his turnover was consistent due to the advantage provided by carefully selected quality raw materials, along with a small celebrity effect. When Andrew's commercial, starring An Ruifeng, hit the market, the spike in sales was uncontrollable, much like ejaculation.
There were two sorts of Ling Ling Xi milk tea establishments. The first was a milk tea business on the streets and alleyways, where customers couldn't stay and had to leave after purchasing; the second was comparable to a cafe, where the milk tea was served with desserts and cakes with higher consumption, allowing consumers to enjoy delicious food in the store.
Although the investment money had not been fully recovered after one year, it was very close to being returned. It was anticipated that his stores would reach pure profitability within a few months. A year's net profit was quite impressive. He was now worth many times more than he was when he was a minor artist.
"Have you tried this?" was a popular tourism food program. The program team had contacted Ling Xi several times in order to interview him, but he had repeatedly refused. Later, they approached his former agent Wu Youpeng directly to explain the situation, to which Ling Xi reluctantly agreed. He used to be afraid of on-the-spot interviews when he was a performing artist. There was nothing he could say every time he faced the camera's pitch-black lens.
Ling Xi was welcomed into the scene by the hostess, who asked him several questions.
The questions she posed had been discussed in advance with Ling Xi. Ling Xi recited the answers as if they were memorized, following the prescribed answers to the letter. When the interview was about to end, the hostess unexpectedly asked a question that had not been communicated in advance.
The hostess inquired: "Ling Xi, may I ask you one more question? I believe the viewers in front of the television are very interested in this question. For a long time, everyone has been guessing. I'm hoping Boss Ling can give us an answer today."
Ling Xi patiently stated: "What exactly is the question? It cannot involve trade secrets."
"It's definitely not a trade secret!" The hostess extended three fingers and swore: "I've seen many fans on the Internet speculate that Drama King An Ruifeng has a stake in Ling Ling Xi milk tea stores, so he doesn't get any endorsement fee to advertise and endorse Ling Ling Xi milk tea stores. May I ask you to answer this question in our program today?"
If it were not for scruples due to being on camera, Ling Xi genuinely wanted to roll his eyes. Programs these days utilize all kinds of tricks in order to capture ratings. A good food show had to come and try to find out celebrity gossip. Could you please let people sell milk tea happily?
Ling Xi gave an appropriate smile and shrugged in front of the camera: "It looks like I'm going to disappoint everyone. Ling Ling Xi Milk Tea Shop is a chain store that I fully own. An Ruifeng does not hold any shares."
Of course An Ruifeng did not have Ling Ling Xi shares. However, he held Ling Xi shares.
After sending out the gossipy food program crew, Ling Xi stretched his body and returned to the store. Today, "Have you tried this?" chose a branch where desserts and milk tea were sold. The interview time was deliberately set to avoid the peak flow of customers, yet when the interview was over, the shop less than 80 square meters was full with people. There were still numerous young girls queuing at the door.
Ling Xi looked at his watch and summoned a shop assistant to inquire, "It's only past four o'clock now. Why are there so many people?"
The shop assistant employed a "isn't this trouble created by your smiling little fairy" attitude to look at him, and sighed: "Boss, didn't you ask the TV station to come over for an interview? Just now, when the camera team came in, some fans wrongly thought that An Ruifeng would come to this store later, and hurried to An Ruifeng's fan site and posted a message. As a result, this group of people flocked here. Those who are standing at the door refuse to leave. As soon as we go over they want us to take orders. We can't drive away the folks who bought items, right?"
It was no wonder that fans believed that An Ruifeng had a stake in Ling Ling Xi because An Ruifeng's enthusiasm for this store was absolutely strange. Fans had photographed An Ruifeng arriving and leaving the Ling Ling Xi milk tea business on the wayside innumerable times. Ling Ling Xi also delivered dozens of cups of milk tea and dozens of desserts to the cast and crew every week for the team to enjoy during tea break.
"Others are fatigued and lose weight while filming," a certain actress who used to be on the same crew as him complained. "Only in our group is everyone gaining weight. An Ruifeng's tea breaks are absolutely delicious. Occasionally, while reading the script, I unknowingly consume a cup of milk tea. I'm not even going to try to count the calories!"
As a result, when the camera crew arrived today, some fans misinterpreted, believing that the TV station was there to interview An Ruifeng.
The more the fans thought about it, the more suspicious they became of this store. They had visited this store before. Why was the floor so immaculately clean only today? Why did the arrangement of cakes on the sales counter today appear to have been done using a ruler? Why was Ling Xi, the "nominal" boss, only present today? It had to be because An Ruifeng was on his way!
The fans appeared to be incarnations of Sherlock Holmes, their eyes searching for clues inch by inch - look, the TV set in the store is looping An Ruifeng's commercial for Ling Ling Xi. This was a very interesting advertisement shot in the first person. An Ruifeng wore a fresh woolen coat and went for a walk in the snow during the snowy winter. He walked step by step, his gaze fixed on the camera as if he were staring at his sweetheart, a happy and satisfied smile on his face. Outside the scene, the "lover" extended their hand and handed him a cup of milk tea. An Ruifeng bowed his head, sipped his tea, and exhaled, his breath condensing into a misty cloud. He caressed his "lover's" cheek and then went away slowly, holding the "lover's" hand.
From the beginning to the conclusion, An Ruifeng didn't have a line, nor did the person who acted with him appear on screen, yet he caught all the audience just by depending on his expressions, making them feel that he was in a relationship with them.
In the wake of An Ruifeng's fading figure, the commercial theme song written and arranged by Ling Xi himself was inserted at this time—
You've seen so much scenery, am I the one you dream about?
You've met so many people, am I the one you cannot live without?
My wish is big, I want it to be me.
Only for destined ones, Ling Ling Xi milk tea.
At the time, as soon as this advertisement that abused single dogs to death aired, the female fans collapsed one after the other. They stormed into the milk tea shop, yelling, "An Ruifeng, you must marry me in the next life," and swept away all of the milk tea. An Ruifeng specifically thanked the fans for supporting his friend Ling Xi's business in an interview after learning that his ad had received such a massive response.
Fans were well aware that An Ruifeng and Ling Xi were like blood brothers. Furthermore, all of the signs today were so unusual that they were convinced An Ruifeng would definitely appear in this store today!
Ling Xi, who couldn't decide whether to laugh or cry, gave the shop assistant instructions: "Go and explain to them, An Ruifeng is going for a magazine photoshoot today and won't be able to come here."
He'd barely finished speaking when he heard the fans outside the store burst out in raucous cheers, almost enough to topple the roof. He subconsciously returned his gaze to the source of the sound, and saw that the man he was certain would not be there was standing in front of the store, waving to him, surrounded by bodyguards and assistants.
An Ruifeng took a long time to sign autographs for all of the fans at the door, after which Ling Xi rushed him to the staff break room behind the counter.
"What brings you here?" Ling Xi inquired: "Didn't you say you were very busy today when you left in the morning?"
Seeing they were alone, An Ruifeng drew him into his arms and kissed him, saying, "I knew you were pretending to sleep in the morning."
"No, no, no, I was really asleep in the morning," Ling Xi said as he promptly covered his butt.
An Ruifeng pinched his cheek, unconcerned about the topic: "I'm assuming your phone is muted. I called you more than a dozen times but didn't get an answer." Ling Xi took out his phone and examined it. The screen displayed fifteen missed calls, as expected.
"Is it urgent? Worth your personal trip?"
"It's not an emergency." An Ruifeng grabbed Ling Xi's waist with both hands, hugged him, and spun in a circle. Ling Xi had no idea what he was going to do and had subconsciously wrapped his legs around An Ruifeng's waist, as well as his arms around his neck. Despite the fact that they had been together for a long time, Ling Xi blushed when he was so close to this handsome face.
An Ruifeng hugged him and moved over to the sofa to take a seat, inviting Ling Xi to straddle his lap. "It's not an emergency; it's excellent news."
"The Golden Panda Award nominees were announced this morning and "Jian Jue Tianxia" garnered twelve nominations, encompassing nearly all of the main TV series categories. The most important thing is that the ending song for "Jian Jue Tianxia," which you wrote, has been nominated for the "Most Popular TV Soundtrack Award!"" An Ruifeng was thrilled. He hadn't been this ecstatic even when he won the Drama King title the previous year. Now that his beloved had been nominated, he'd rushed over, eager to share the good news with him as quickly as possible.
"...Oh." However, Ling Xi's reaction to the nomination was mediocre, contrary to expectations. The fact that he was nominated did not guarantee that he would win the award. There were five finalists for the Golden Panda Award. Ling Xi honestly didn't think he stood a chance of winning the honor.
"Jian Jue Tianxia" was broadcast six months ago. Ling Xi, who performed the ending song for the TV series and played the dog demon fourth apprentice in the play, inevitably became popular, as Zhu Linlin predicted. For a while, Ling Xi's cute dog ears, naive nature, and sweet voice had made him a favorite of many female fans. Even the elderly ladies adored him. It was claimed that the episode in which he died in the arms of his master caused viewers to cry uncontrollably, soaking their pillowcases.
Because of its lovely melody and heartfelt emotion, the title track of "Jian Jue Tianxia," which served as the show's end-credit song, became a huge hit. Ling Xi, however, still couldn't escape the curse of being the "Little Singer King of Two Yuan Stores" and this song was widely heard at the 'two yuan can't buy you a loss, two yuan can't be fooled' stores. No matter where it's melody could be heard…
The ending song's nomination came as no surprise, but Ling Xi didn't dare to dream for it - he had composed so many songs before leaving the entertainment circle, yet not a single one had ever received an award. Wasn't it unthinkable for him to win an award after leaving the entertainment industry? The reality that he was nominated demonstrated his strength. Despite not canvassing or brushing votes, it had acquired such a high popularity rating, indicating that this music was genuinely popular.
An Ruifeng could tell by his expression what he was thinking after living with him for so long. He kissed his lips and whispered solemnly: "Ling Xi, when I was nominated for the first time, Xu-ge advised me: Don't think about whether you can win the prize; first, prepare the award acceptance speech. It would be fantastic if you win the award..."
"What if you don't win the award?"
"If you don't win the award, save the speech for next year." An Ruifeng paused, "But for you, I'm going to change it."
Ling Xi gave him a suspicious glance.
"If you don't win the award, read it to me in bed."
Ling Xi, as expected, was upbeat: "OK, then I'll write it now!"
※※※
The annual Golden Panda Award event was packed with brilliant celebrities. Ling Xi dressed up as An Ruifeng's assistant and followed his assistance team into the venue about this time last year. He was wearing a uniformly dispersed black suit at the time and snuck in through the side door. But now, he stood candidly at the start of the red carpet with the other cast members of the drama team, waiting to step onto the red carpet and go to the signing board for an autograph and souvenir photos.
Ling Xi had never had the opportunity to walk the red carpet at such a renowned award presentation, let alone receive a nomination. If this had happened a few years ago, he could have been so excited over his large pie that he couldn't sleep. But he had left the entertainment industry and became a big boss who could relax. Now, when he walked down the red carpet, he was neither excited nor nervous. Instead, he appeared to be at ease. Looking around at the bustling crowd, he felt a pang of nostalgia.
This time, many actors attended the award ceremony, including Bao Hui, who had a major feud with Ling Xi. He was the male lead in "Jian Jue Tianxia," and he was nominated for "Most Popular Actor" based on TV ratings. If he won, An Ruifeng, the previous Drama King, would personally present him with the trophy. Last night, Ling Xi and An Ruifeng talked about it in bed. They both agreed that, given Bao Hui's acting abilities and recent debut, his nomination was entirely based on idol canvassing and fan voting. His acting abilities were mediocre, and the judges were unlikely to award him the title of Drama King.
Ling Xi and Bao Hui were at the far ends of the crew. When their gazes met, they exchanged a smile.
Bao Hui: ^_^ Didn't you open a restaurant?
Ling Xi: ^_^ Why hasn't this moron been kicked out of the circle?
The mood was positive, as if two heads of state had just concluded a diplomatic meeting.
Ling Xi didn't want to pay attention to him. When he looked to the left, he noticed Zhu Linlin removing her coat and handed it to her agent, revealing a scarlet full-length evening gown. She appeared slim and graceful. "Linlin, I heard you have a good momentum of progress recently?" said Ling Xi as he approached her for a greeting.
"Yes, thanks to An Ruifeng." Zhu Linlin nodded, her face triumphant. At a critical moment, she'd pushed Ling Xi from behind and pushed him right out of the closet, allowing him to understand his affections for An Ruifeng. She could be said to have acted as cupid for them. An Ruifeng recalled her assistance and had pulled a few strings this year to introduce her to a few jobs. Zhu Linlin took advantage of the opportunity and participated in one of the most popular outdoor variety shows at the time. She dared to be adventurous while simultaneously working hard. Unlike those delicately pretty female celebrities, she had progressed from being only a foil to becoming a totally worthy show center.
They were both small fry struggling at the bottom of the circle not long ago. One was now a variety show queen, while the other was a food business nouveau riche. They realized how childish and ridiculous they'd been when they remembered their previous tit-for-tat.
An Ruifeng, who'd just finished a discussion with the director, came over to join Zhu Linlin and Ling Xi in their conversation. An Ruifeng got right to the point after exchanging a few pleasantries, saying: "By the way, the funding for my brother's first directed film is now in place, and they're looking for actors. Almost all of the roles have been cast, except for a minor role of a lesbian murderer, for which no suitable actor has yet been found. The few female stars they were interested in declined the role because they were concerned about their image. I only received the script yesterday. It has a similar feel to your style. Do you want to go for the audition?"
Despite the fact that it was a minor role, this film drew a lot of attention because it was Andrew, a former film emperor's directorial debut. Wang LiLi was the film's male lead, and he was the circle's golden supporting male lead. Wang LiLi was taking on the role of the male lead for the first time. Senior actors took on all of the other roles. It was difficult for ordinary starlets to play in it. An Ruifeng knew how to conduct himself properly. He was introducing Zhu Linlin to a great job, but he never used the tone of "charity." Instead, he seemed to be asking for her assistance, which made her happy.
Zhu Linlin was astute and appreciated his kindness. More importantly, she was aware that the only reason she was able to obtain An Ruifeng's repeated support was due to her good intentions at the time. She did not deny the invitation and instead accepted it.
"Being a matchmaker for you guys has been the most profitable investment I've ever made."
They were chatting about something when they heard a dog barking from the side. Ling Xi's heartbeat quickened, and he turned to look towards the direction of the sound. He observed the little ancestor, as expected, sitting in its exclusive dog cage while being carried in its trainer's hand. The cast and crew of "Jian Jue Tianxia" garnered the most nominations and the most attention in this year's Golden Panda Award. All of the performers and creators had arrived at the location. The adorable and lovely little ancestor dog actor in the show couldn't be forgotten, of course.
Ling Xi hadn't seen the little ancestor in quite some time. He was concerned that the little ancestor might have forgotten about him. He hadn't anticipated it smelling him from such a long distance. It paced around the cage, its small paws resting on the cage door, and its two black grape-like eyes stared at him unblinkingly. When the little ancestor saw Ling Xi return its look, he became even more thrilled, raised his neck, and called out, his tail swinging from side to side and pounding on the dog cage.
"Little ancestor!" Ling Xi dashed over, knelt, and opened the cage door. Whoosh! The little ancestor flew into his arms like an arrow, its big and fluffy fox-like tail wagging madly. It scared Ling Xi into quickly grasping its buttocks, fearful that it would wag its tail off.
An Ruifeng also adored the little ancestor and stood beside Ling Xi, teasing it with his fingers. The little ancestor was well-trained and never bit anyone. It extended its tiny pink tongue to lick An Ruifeng's fingers.
When Ling Xi saw An Ruifeng smile after being licked by it, he had an epiphany: "Oh! So you enjoy being licked like this."
"......" An Ruifeng withdrew his hand and said with a serious face: "This is a dog. What are you thinking about?"
Ling Xi was more serious than him: "I'm talking about fingers. What are you thinking about?"
When a staff member arrived to alert everyone that they were going to walk the red carpet, the two were seriously discussing matters that were inappropriate for children. The little ancestor was supposed to be placed in a cage and carried directly into the venue by the trainer through a small door, but Ling Xi refused to let go and insisted that he be permitted to carry it on the red carpet.
The director was not convinced: "There are a lot of flashbulbs. What if the dog jumps out of your arms and rushes around, scared?"
Ling Xi: "The trainer said that it has seen more flashbulbs than I have. You're worried it'll be startled and run about, so you might as well be concerned about what to do if I'm startled and run around..."
An Ruifeng patted him on the shoulder: "It's all right, I'm here. No one will dare to disturb you."
Finally, Ling Xi walked the red carpet while holding the little ancestor. In the play, they were initially one. They were both vibrant and adorable, with a childish heart. The demeanor of the little ancestor was that of a great general. As soon as Ling Xi stepped onto the red carpet while hugging it, numerous cameras focused on this unusual combination. Flashbulbs went off one after the other, and the shuttering noises continued. Ling Xi struggled to keep his smile under the harsh flashbulbs, but the small dog in his arms kept quiet the entire time.
An Ruifeng walked slowly alongside them. After all, this was Ling Xi's first time walking the red carpet. He was concerned that Ling Xi would be involved in an accident. The more you worry about something, the more likely it is to occur. As a result, Ling Xi, blinded by the flashbulbs, failed to notice the ground and tripped over a fold on the red carpet. He was going to fall since he couldn't control his balance while holding a dog. An Ruifeng instantly grabbed his shoulders and yanked him away from the red carpet, preventing him from making a spectacle of himself.
This unforeseen accident caught Ling Xi off guard, and he stood there with his heart pounding. An Ruifeng came to a halt and enquired in hushed tones if he was all right. He gathered his thoughts, glanced at An Ruifeng, and mouthed OK.
The adorable doggie sat in Ling Xi's arms, sticking out its tongue foolishly, while Ling Xi, who was holding it, raised his head to face An Ruifeng - Later, this photograph of two men walking with a dog was reprinted by numerous media outlets, with the captions "the warmest scene at the Golden Panda Award" and "the cutest combo at the Golden Panda Award," prompting many fans to humorously refer to these photos as the "family of three group photos."
They arrived at the autograph area after strolling down the red carpet. Ling Xi accepted the proffered pen and signed his name on the one-person tall display board. This was his first and possibly last appearance at such an awards ceremony, therefore he took his signature very seriously. Every stroke of his pen was significantly more deliberate than when he signed on the line specified by the legal representative of the company.
An Ruifeng, who had already signed his name and took the little ancestor from his arms, did not press him and waited quietly for him to sign. Ling Xi used so much force that the strokes would have pierced paper if he had been writing on it. Ling Xi peered at the two characters for a whole minute after finishing the last stroke before putting down the pen in his hand.
"All right, let's go." He was relieved.
He'd made the decision to leave a long time ago. Even if he had regrets, he would not regret his original decision.
An Ruifeng nodded and followed him into the venue.
Each Golden Panda Award had a similar theme. The award hall was adorned with gold panda decorations, and even the chairs of invited guests were embossed with panda busts. Ling Xi sat in the back row last year, and the chair was narrow and hard. He could now relax comfortably on the plush satin chair with his name on it and await the trophy. It felt fantastic.
"I'm perfectly content just being able to sit on it," Ling Xi remarked as he sat down with the dog in his arms and moved his butt comfortably.
An Ruifeng: "I'm going to be jealous if you say that. Why haven't I heard you compliment me after I've let you sit so many times?"
"...Excuse me, there is a lady here," said Zhu Linlin, who was sitting on the side.
Ling Xi stated impressively: "Aiya! Sorry, I forgot that you were still single."
Zhu Linlin: "Hehe, I thought you were going to say I'm a single dog."
Ling Xi hastily covered the little ancestors' ears with his palms and yelled angrily: "Don't attack dogs. The little ancestor was sterilized in six months. It cannot breed due to physiological factors. You cannot find a girlfriend because of your personality."
When the lights dimmed and the personnel in charge of the event came to inform everyone that the award ceremony was about to begin and requested everyone to sit quietly, Zhu Linlin had assumed the posture of wanting to hit him. Zhu Linlin could only smooth her skirt with a black face and sit elegantly on the comfortable soft chair, but because of the conversation she had just had with AnLing, she felt contradictory no matter how she sat.
The Golden Panda Awards' hosts had always been a set pair. For several years, two senior hosts from the anchor circle had hosted the awards ceremony. Within minutes of appearing on stage, they joked that they had seen the list of finalists backstage and discovered that a certain TV series appeared frequently among the nominations this year; its momentum was very strong.
Following their introduction, the lighting engineer focused on the cast and crew of "Jian Jue Tianxia," who were seated closest to the podium. The director stood proudly and along with his team waved his hand in greeting to the other actors and creators. No one else could compete with their star power.
With 55 awards in four categories, the Golden Panda Award was the highest honor bestowed upon Panda Country's television programs. The cast and crew of "Jian Jue Tianxia" received twelve nominations for the 17 awards in the TV series category. Even though a nomination did not guarantee an award, it could fully demonstrate the audience's adoration. The director and the creative team had collaborated for several years. It wasn't the first time they'd sat down to accept an award, but it was certainly the first time they'd received so many nominations.
An Ruifeng did not accept any TV series this year, but he was nominated for "The Most Popular Supporting Actor" for his role as a master in "Jian Jue Tianxia," despite only appearing in ten episodes. However, he understood that regardless of the criteria, the judges would not be able to grant him the trophy. As a result, one of the twelve nominations was automatically removed from the list of possible winners.
If you count the art awards, special effects awards, and lighting awards that did not hold a dominant position, only a few key ones could win the prize.
Despite mentally preparing himself, the director's expression was not at all calm when he observed the trophies being given to others one after the other. The director's face looked increasingly unsightly, especially when the editing award, which he was convinced they would win, ended up in the hands of another team.
The surrounding teams glanced at them sympathetically - it wasn't the first time that a team that had been nominated for multiple trophies ended up winning only one or two. Such teams frequently relied on celebrities for support and received great ratings, but they fell short of the standards for winning awards.
Fortunately, the screenwriter daren easily won the Best Original Screenplay award, saving some of "Jian Jue Tianxia's" face; otherwise, the director would like to leave with his team at this point.
The awards were announced and given out one at a time. The procedure was as dull as a dishwasher. Ling Xi was very energetic at first, but when he saw that the honors were going to other crews, he grew exhausted. Presumably, his nomination for "The Most Popular TV Soundtrack" award had little chance of success.
He was bored, and the little ancestor he was holding was much more so. It had been calmly resting in Ling Xi's arms for more than 30 minutes and was now at its most fidgety. It kept kicking in his arms, trying to jump down and play.
Ling Xi couldn't let it go. He'd made a pact with the director to keep the little ancestor with him diligently, and there was no way he'd break his pledge. But the tighter he held the little ancestor, the more it squirmed; and the more it squirmed, the tighter he held it. One man and one dog were on the verge of a fight. Angrily, the little ancestor stretched out its two front paws and patted his face.
"The award for music is up next. Let me remark that the shortlisted TV drama's theme songs are quite beautiful, and the award-winning one is very popular. My house's small business downstairs even has it on repeat."
Ling Xi was completely unconcerned about the honors being awarded on stage at this time. All of his focus was on the small dog, which he was trying to keep in his arms.
"Now, let us enjoy this lovely theme tune - congratulations to the "Jian Jue Tianxia" team and the creator on winning the 'Most Popular TV Soundtrack' award!"
The musical composition that Ling Xi was quite familiar with floated in the venue before the presenter could finish speaking. The crisp and refreshing male voice, combined with the melodic song, immediately transported listeners back to the plot of "Jian Jue Tianxia." They thought they saw an aloof immortal on a sword racing across the sky, pursuing the Great Dao.
The camera panned to Ling Xi, who was menacing the little ancestor in his arms and forcing him into his embrace.
Even the other nominees couldn't help laughing as his embarrassment played out on the big screen. Everyone applauded and smiled with kindness. Ling Xi gazed around in confusion, his head a blank space. Finally, his gaze was drawn to An Ruifeng, who sat beside him. Those two eyes, with which he'd spent countless evenings and early mornings intertwined, were smiling at him with pride.
"Congratulations," An Ruifeng praised: "Ling Xi, you won the award."
Ling Xi stood up and took a few steps towards the podium, perplexed, until he heard everyone guffawing and realized something was amiss! - He still had the dog in his arms! But he was already halfway to the stage, and it was improper for him to return and put the dog down. He could only bite the bullet and take quick steps to the podium while holding the little ancestor.
The presenter had never seen such an unconventional award winner before, but the rules didn't say he couldn't go on stage while holding a dog, so he handed the trophy to Ling Xi's hands while laughing heartily.
"Uh...thank you all...uh, thanks," Ling Xi muttered incoherently, holding the trophy in one hand and the dog in the other. He'd prepared the award acceptance speech since learning he'd been nominated and had even practiced it every night in front of the bathroom mirror after having a shower, but when he really won the award, he couldn't recall a single word.
It had been far too long since he'd been in the spotlight, and far too long since he'd written a song in the hopes of winning the prize. He once yearned for his considerable efforts to be recognized, but this recognition came so long after he had left the circle.
He was no longer delighted by this honor after such a long time; he simply felt ineffable.
He...won the award?
Ling Xi's mood was complicated as he held this trophy, the gold content of which was neither high nor low. He finished the shortest acceptance speech of the past award winners, dragged the dog's buttocks up and hugged him, bowed a full ninety degrees to the audience, and hurried quickly down the podium.
But, halfway through, he abruptly turned around and stepped in front of the microphone again, much to everyone's surprise.
Even the most seasoned host was unable to handle this unforeseen change.
But Ling Xi didn't require anything from him. He took a deep breath, stood in front of the microphone, abruptly lifted up the trophy, and spoke—
"Last year at this time, I was sitting in the audience, watching other people receive awards, applauding for others, and wishing others well. At the time, I hoped desperately that I would also win an award so that I could make my loved ones and those who care about me happy and proud. I'd like to thank the Golden Panda for allowing me to win this trophy in such an unexpected circumstance, and for giving my lover something he can talk about and brag about for the rest of his life. Even if we are old and gray-haired, I believe he will point to the trophy and tell the guests at home, "Look, although my family's old boss is not the most popular singer, he once wrote the most popular song.""
Ling Xi finished what was probably the most romantic award acceptance speech ever, and walked down the stairs with the trophy dazed by the crowd's applause.
The entire team was so shocked by Ling Xi's confession that no one remembered to congratulate him for a while. Previous award winners had to be polite when they came on stage, thanking the judges, the crew, the audience, and talking about their own experiences. Only Ling Xi deviated from the norm, with three of four sentences focusing on his mysterious lover.
An Ruifeng was the first to rise, and as he took the little ancestor from Ling Xi's arms, he extended his hand and shook hands with him.
In the eyes of the other artists around them, the two hot palms clasped tightly together looked like nothing more than two close brothers, but only Ling Xi knew that An Ruifeng's eyes were full of love as he looked at him.
As other awards were being handed on stage, they both took their seats. They had no intention of paying attention.
If An Ruifeng hadn't had to wait until he walked on stage to present the Drama King award, he would've left it all behind and taken Ling Xi with him, celebrating this honor in every way he could fantasize of.
He had always suspected that Ling Xi had a knot in his heart since his efforts had not yielded the desired results. Even though he had left the entertainment industry and was doing well in the food industry, he couldn't fill the hole in his heart. But now, this award had filled the void and made the final regret in his heart disappear.
Despite his claim that he had little chance of winning the honor, Ling Xi was as overjoyed as if he had been hit by a shooting star when the trophy was placed in his hands. With the trophy, he teased the little ancestor. The little ancestor peered curiously for a while before whimpering and biting the small panda on the trophy. Ling Xi, distraught, quickly removed his hand. An Ruifeng watched his shenanigans with it and wished he could see him like this for the rest of his life.
While playing, Ling Xi abruptly halted his hand motions, peered at the trophy for a moment, then raised his head and looked suspiciously at An Ruifeng's face. After a thorough examination of his expression, he lowered his voice and asked, "AnAn, tell me the truth. Did you purchase this award for me?"
An Ruifeng did not respond directly. Instead, when no one was looking, he quietly covered Ling Xi's hand.
He grasped the other party's smooth and warm hand and traced the guitar calluses on the other party's fingertips, vaguely and ambiguously misleading him: "What if I bought this award, and what if I didn't buy it?"
Ling Xi's expression was neither too dismayed nor too confident as a result of this response. He looked around very carefully, and when he saw that no one else was looking at him, he opened his mouth and whispered, blushing with shame—
"Actually, I want to win a Young Entrepreneur award."
An Ruifeng burst out laughing. He reasoned that he had ample time to accompany Ling Xi and pluck all the buds that piqued his interest.
[End]
Author's Note:
Yes, the main text is over!
This is not a story about personal struggle. It lacks the 'fighting against all odds and bettering yourself in hardship' feel. Rather, it's the story of a protagonist who finds true love after climbing the 12th tier and happily sits and goes down the slide.
Ling Xi and An Ruifeng are completely different individuals, or Ling Xi is absolutely different from all of the other artists in this story. Everyone wants to reach the top and prove their ability; everyone has ambitions and dreams. However, Ling Xi did not. Even at the start, he signed a contract because he wanted to sing, not because he wanted to be famous. After eleven years of struggling, he found that few people listened to his singing, so he gladly let it go.
His lightheartedness is also what I like the most about him. His sadness will never last more than three minutes.
An Ruifeng is not the same as Ling Xi. He is ambitious and has skills, and his hardware is up to the standard(not that hardware). As he stated when he received the Drama King title, the recognition of his acting abilities and good appearance helped him succeed. He was also very kind to Ling Xi. When he was tempted, he took the initiative to pursue and seduce. After the two got together, he prioritized Ling Xi in everything. Ling Xi was inseparable from him because of his gentleness.
They are two completely different people that happen to cross paths.
They happily fell in love. I hope you like it.
At the time, as soon as this advertisement that abused single dogs to death aired, the female fans collapsed one after the other. They stormed into the milk tea shop, yelling, "An Ruifeng, you must marry me in the next life," and swept away all of the milk tea. An Ruifeng specifically thanked the fans for supporting his friend Ling Xi's business in an interview after learning that his ad had received such a massive response.
Fans were well aware that An Ruifeng and Ling Xi were like blood brothers. Furthermore, all of the signs today were so unusual that they were convinced An Ruifeng would definitely appear in this store today!
Ling Xi, who couldn't decide whether to laugh or cry, gave the shop assistant instructions: "Go and explain to them, An Ruifeng is going for a magazine photoshoot today and won't be able to come here."
He'd barely finished speaking when he heard the fans outside the store burst out in raucous cheers, almost enough to topple the roof. He subconsciously returned his gaze to the source of the sound, and saw that the man he was certain would not be there was standing in front of the store, waving to him, surrounded by bodyguards and assistants.
An Ruifeng took a long time to sign autographs for all of the fans at the door, after which Ling Xi rushed him to the staff break room behind the counter.
"What brings you here?" Ling Xi inquired: "Didn't you say you were very busy today when you left in the morning?"
Seeing they were alone, An Ruifeng drew him into his arms and kissed him, saying, "I knew you were pretending to sleep in the morning."
"No, no, no, I was really asleep in the morning," Ling Xi said as he promptly covered his butt.
An Ruifeng pinched his cheek, unconcerned about the topic: "I'm assuming your phone is muted. I called you more than a dozen times but didn't get an answer." Ling Xi took out his phone and examined it. The screen displayed fifteen missed calls, as expected.
"Is it urgent? Worth your personal trip?"
"It's not an emergency." An Ruifeng grabbed Ling Xi's waist with both hands, hugged him, and spun in a circle. Ling Xi had no idea what he was going to do and had subconsciously wrapped his legs around An Ruifeng's waist, as well as his arms around his neck. Despite the fact that they had been together for a long time, Ling Xi blushed when he was so close to this handsome face.
An Ruifeng hugged him and moved over to the sofa to take a seat, inviting Ling Xi to straddle his lap. "It's not an emergency; it's excellent news."
"The Golden Panda Award nominees were announced this morning and "Jian Jue Tianxia" garnered twelve nominations, encompassing nearly all of the main TV series categories. The most important thing is that the ending song for "Jian Jue Tianxia," which you wrote, has been nominated for the "Most Popular TV Soundtrack Award!"" An Ruifeng was thrilled. He hadn't been this ecstatic even when he won the Drama King title the previous year. Now that his beloved had been nominated, he'd rushed over, eager to share the good news with him as quickly as possible.
"...Oh." However, Ling Xi's reaction to the nomination was mediocre, contrary to expectations. The fact that he was nominated did not guarantee that he would win the award. There were five finalists for the Golden Panda Award. Ling Xi honestly didn't think he stood a chance of winning the honor.
"Jian Jue Tianxia" was broadcast six months ago. Ling Xi, who performed the ending song for the TV series and played the dog demon fourth apprentice in the play, inevitably became popular, as Zhu Linlin predicted. For a while, Ling Xi's cute dog ears, naive nature, and sweet voice had made him a favorite of many female fans. Even the elderly ladies adored him. It was claimed that the episode in which he died in the arms of his master caused viewers to cry uncontrollably, soaking their pillowcases.
Because of its lovely melody and heartfelt emotion, the title track of "Jian Jue Tianxia," which served as the show's end-credit song, became a huge hit. Ling Xi, however, still couldn't escape the curse of being the "Little Singer King of Two Yuan Stores" and this song was widely heard at the 'two yuan can't buy you a loss, two yuan can't be fooled' stores. No matter where it's melody could be heard…
The ending song's nomination came as no surprise, but Ling Xi didn't dare to dream for it - he had composed so many songs before leaving the entertainment circle, yet not a single one had ever received an award. Wasn't it unthinkable for him to win an award after leaving the entertainment industry? The reality that he was nominated demonstrated his strength. Despite not canvassing or brushing votes, it had acquired such a high popularity rating, indicating that this music was genuinely popular.
An Ruifeng could tell by his expression what he was thinking after living with him for so long. He kissed his lips and whispered solemnly: "Ling Xi, when I was nominated for the first time, Xu-ge advised me: Don't think about whether you can win the prize; first, prepare the award acceptance speech. It would be fantastic if you win the award..."
"What if you don't win the award?"
"If you don't win the award, save the speech for next year." An Ruifeng paused, "But for you, I'm going to change it."
Ling Xi gave him a suspicious glance.
"If you don't win the award, read it to me in bed."
Ling Xi, as expected, was upbeat: "OK, then I'll write it now!"
※※※
The annual Golden Panda Award event was packed with brilliant celebrities. Ling Xi dressed up as An Ruifeng's assistant and followed his assistance team into the venue about this time last year. He was wearing a uniformly dispersed black suit at the time and snuck in through the side door. But now, he stood candidly at the start of the red carpet with the other cast members of the drama team, waiting to step onto the red carpet and go to the signing board for an autograph and souvenir photos.
Ling Xi had never had the opportunity to walk the red carpet at such a renowned award presentation, let alone receive a nomination. If this had happened a few years ago, he could have been so excited over his large pie that he couldn't sleep. But he had left the entertainment industry and became a big boss who could relax. Now, when he walked down the red carpet, he was neither excited nor nervous. Instead, he appeared to be at ease. Looking around at the bustling crowd, he felt a pang of nostalgia.
This time, many actors attended the award ceremony, including Bao Hui, who had a major feud with Ling Xi. He was the male lead in "Jian Jue Tianxia," and he was nominated for "Most Popular Actor" based on TV ratings. If he won, An Ruifeng, the previous Drama King, would personally present him with the trophy. Last night, Ling Xi and An Ruifeng talked about it in bed. They both agreed that, given Bao Hui's acting abilities and recent debut, his nomination was entirely based on idol canvassing and fan voting. His acting abilities were mediocre, and the judges were unlikely to award him the title of Drama King.
Ling Xi and Bao Hui were at the far ends of the crew. When their gazes met, they exchanged a smile.
Bao Hui: ^_^ Didn't you open a restaurant?
Ling Xi: ^_^ Why hasn't this moron been kicked out of the circle?
The mood was positive, as if two heads of state had just concluded a diplomatic meeting.
Ling Xi didn't want to pay attention to him. When he looked to the left, he noticed Zhu Linlin removing her coat and handed it to her agent, revealing a scarlet full-length evening gown. She appeared slim and graceful. "Linlin, I heard you have a good momentum of progress recently?" said Ling Xi as he approached her for a greeting.
"Yes, thanks to An Ruifeng." Zhu Linlin nodded, her face triumphant. At a critical moment, she'd pushed Ling Xi from behind and pushed him right out of the closet, allowing him to understand his affections for An Ruifeng. She could be said to have acted as cupid for them. An Ruifeng recalled her assistance and had pulled a few strings this year to introduce her to a few jobs. Zhu Linlin took advantage of the opportunity and participated in one of the most popular outdoor variety shows at the time. She dared to be adventurous while simultaneously working hard. Unlike those delicately pretty female celebrities, she had progressed from being only a foil to becoming a totally worthy show center.
They were both small fry struggling at the bottom of the circle not long ago. One was now a variety show queen, while the other was a food business nouveau riche. They realized how childish and ridiculous they'd been when they remembered their previous tit-for-tat.
An Ruifeng, who'd just finished a discussion with the director, came over to join Zhu Linlin and Ling Xi in their conversation. An Ruifeng got right to the point after exchanging a few pleasantries, saying: "By the way, the funding for my brother's first directed film is now in place, and they're looking for actors. Almost all of the roles have been cast, except for a minor role of a lesbian murderer, for which no suitable actor has yet been found. The few female stars they were interested in declined the role because they were concerned about their image. I only received the script yesterday. It has a similar feel to your style. Do you want to go for the audition?"
Despite the fact that it was a minor role, this film drew a lot of attention because it was Andrew, a former film emperor's directorial debut. Wang LiLi was the film's male lead, and he was the circle's golden supporting male lead. Wang LiLi was taking on the role of the male lead for the first time. Senior actors took on all of the other roles. It was difficult for ordinary starlets to play in it. An Ruifeng knew how to conduct himself properly. He was introducing Zhu Linlin to a great job, but he never used the tone of "charity." Instead, he seemed to be asking for her assistance, which made her happy.
Zhu Linlin was astute and appreciated his kindness. More importantly, she was aware that the only reason she was able to obtain An Ruifeng's repeated support was due to her good intentions at the time. She did not deny the invitation and instead accepted it.
"Being a matchmaker for you guys has been the most profitable investment I've ever made."
They were chatting about something when they heard a dog barking from the side. Ling Xi's heartbeat quickened, and he turned to look towards the direction of the sound. He observed the little ancestor, as expected, sitting in its exclusive dog cage while being carried in its trainer's hand. The cast and crew of "Jian Jue Tianxia" garnered the most nominations and the most attention in this year's Golden Panda Award. All of the performers and creators had arrived at the location. The adorable and lovely little ancestor dog actor in the show couldn't be forgotten, of course.
Ling Xi hadn't seen the little ancestor in quite some time. He was concerned that the little ancestor might have forgotten about him. He hadn't anticipated it smelling him from such a long distance. It paced around the cage, its small paws resting on the cage door, and its two black grape-like eyes stared at him unblinkingly. When the little ancestor saw Ling Xi return its look, he became even more thrilled, raised his neck, and called out, his tail swinging from side to side and pounding on the dog cage.
"Little ancestor!" Ling Xi dashed over, knelt, and opened the cage door. Whoosh! The little ancestor flew into his arms like an arrow, its big and fluffy fox-like tail wagging madly. It scared Ling Xi into quickly grasping its buttocks, fearful that it would wag its tail off.
An Ruifeng also adored the little ancestor and stood beside Ling Xi, teasing it with his fingers. The little ancestor was well-trained and never bit anyone. It extended its tiny pink tongue to lick An Ruifeng's fingers.
When Ling Xi saw An Ruifeng smile after being licked by it, he had an epiphany: "Oh! So you enjoy being licked like this."
"......" An Ruifeng withdrew his hand and said with a serious face: "This is a dog. What are you thinking about?"
Ling Xi was more serious than him: "I'm talking about fingers. What are you thinking about?"
When a staff member arrived to alert everyone that they were going to walk the red carpet, the two were seriously discussing matters that were inappropriate for children. The little ancestor was supposed to be placed in a cage and carried directly into the venue by the trainer through a small door, but Ling Xi refused to let go and insisted that he be permitted to carry it on the red carpet.
The director was not convinced: "There are a lot of flashbulbs. What if the dog jumps out of your arms and rushes around, scared?"
Ling Xi: "The trainer said that it has seen more flashbulbs than I have. You're worried it'll be startled and run about, so you might as well be concerned about what to do if I'm startled and run around..."
An Ruifeng patted him on the shoulder: "It's all right, I'm here. No one will dare to disturb you."
Finally, Ling Xi walked the red carpet while holding the little ancestor. In the play, they were initially one. They were both vibrant and adorable, with a childish heart. The demeanor of the little ancestor was that of a great general. As soon as Ling Xi stepped onto the red carpet while hugging it, numerous cameras focused on this unusual combination. Flashbulbs went off one after the other, and the shuttering noises continued. Ling Xi struggled to keep his smile under the harsh flashbulbs, but the small dog in his arms kept quiet the entire time.
An Ruifeng walked slowly alongside them. After all, this was Ling Xi's first time walking the red carpet. He was concerned that Ling Xi would be involved in an accident. The more you worry about something, the more likely it is to occur. As a result, Ling Xi, blinded by the flashbulbs, failed to notice the ground and tripped over a fold on the red carpet. He was going to fall since he couldn't control his balance while holding a dog. An Ruifeng instantly grabbed his shoulders and yanked him away from the red carpet, preventing him from making a spectacle of himself.
This unforeseen accident caught Ling Xi off guard, and he stood there with his heart pounding. An Ruifeng came to a halt and enquired in hushed tones if he was all right. He gathered his thoughts, glanced at An Ruifeng, and mouthed OK.
The adorable doggie sat in Ling Xi's arms, sticking out its tongue foolishly, while Ling Xi, who was holding it, raised his head to face An Ruifeng - Later, this photograph of two men walking with a dog was reprinted by numerous media outlets, with the captions "the warmest scene at the Golden Panda Award" and "the cutest combo at the Golden Panda Award," prompting many fans to humorously refer to these photos as the "family of three group photos."
They arrived at the autograph area after strolling down the red carpet. Ling Xi accepted the proffered pen and signed his name on the one-person tall display board. This was his first and possibly last appearance at such an awards ceremony, therefore he took his signature very seriously. Every stroke of his pen was significantly more deliberate than when he signed on the line specified by the legal representative of the company.
An Ruifeng, who had already signed his name and took the little ancestor from his arms, did not press him and waited quietly for him to sign. Ling Xi used so much force that the strokes would have pierced paper if he had been writing on it. Ling Xi peered at the two characters for a whole minute after finishing the last stroke before putting down the pen in his hand.
"All right, let's go." He was relieved.
He'd made the decision to leave a long time ago. Even if he had regrets, he would not regret his original decision.
An Ruifeng nodded and followed him into the venue.
Each Golden Panda Award had a similar theme. The award hall was adorned with gold panda decorations, and even the chairs of invited guests were embossed with panda busts. Ling Xi sat in the back row last year, and the chair was narrow and hard. He could now relax comfortably on the plush satin chair with his name on it and await the trophy. It felt fantastic.
"I'm perfectly content just being able to sit on it," Ling Xi remarked as he sat down with the dog in his arms and moved his butt comfortably.
An Ruifeng: "I'm going to be jealous if you say that. Why haven't I heard you compliment me after I've let you sit so many times?"
"...Excuse me, there is a lady here," said Zhu Linlin, who was sitting on the side.
Ling Xi stated impressively: "Aiya! Sorry, I forgot that you were still single."
Zhu Linlin: "Hehe, I thought you were going to say I'm a single dog."
Ling Xi hastily covered the little ancestors' ears with his palms and yelled angrily: "Don't attack dogs. The little ancestor was sterilized in six months. It cannot breed due to physiological factors. You cannot find a girlfriend because of your personality."
When the lights dimmed and the personnel in charge of the event came to inform everyone that the award ceremony was about to begin and requested everyone to sit quietly, Zhu Linlin had assumed the posture of wanting to hit him. Zhu Linlin could only smooth her skirt with a black face and sit elegantly on the comfortable soft chair, but because of the conversation she had just had with AnLing, she felt contradictory no matter how she sat.
The Golden Panda Awards' hosts had always been a set pair. For several years, two senior hosts from the anchor circle had hosted the awards ceremony. Within minutes of appearing on stage, they joked that they had seen the list of finalists backstage and discovered that a certain TV series appeared frequently among the nominations this year; its momentum was very strong.
Following their introduction, the lighting engineer focused on the cast and crew of "Jian Jue Tianxia," who were seated closest to the podium. The director stood proudly and along with his team waved his hand in greeting to the other actors and creators. No one else could compete with their star power.
With 55 awards in four categories, the Golden Panda Award was the highest honor bestowed upon Panda Country's television programs. The cast and crew of "Jian Jue Tianxia" received twelve nominations for the 17 awards in the TV series category. Even though a nomination did not guarantee an award, it could fully demonstrate the audience's adoration. The director and the creative team had collaborated for several years. It wasn't the first time they'd sat down to accept an award, but it was certainly the first time they'd received so many nominations.
An Ruifeng did not accept any TV series this year, but he was nominated for "The Most Popular Supporting Actor" for his role as a master in "Jian Jue Tianxia," despite only appearing in ten episodes. However, he understood that regardless of the criteria, the judges would not be able to grant him the trophy. As a result, one of the twelve nominations was automatically removed from the list of possible winners.
If you count the art awards, special effects awards, and lighting awards that did not hold a dominant position, only a few key ones could win the prize.
Despite mentally preparing himself, the director's expression was not at all calm when he observed the trophies being given to others one after the other. The director's face looked increasingly unsightly, especially when the editing award, which he was convinced they would win, ended up in the hands of another team.
The surrounding teams glanced at them sympathetically - it wasn't the first time that a team that had been nominated for multiple trophies ended up winning only one or two. Such teams frequently relied on celebrities for support and received great ratings, but they fell short of the standards for winning awards.
Fortunately, the screenwriter daren easily won the Best Original Screenplay award, saving some of "Jian Jue Tianxia's" face; otherwise, the director would like to leave with his team at this point.
The awards were announced and given out one at a time. The procedure was as dull as a dishwasher. Ling Xi was very energetic at first, but when he saw that the honors were going to other crews, he grew exhausted. Presumably, his nomination for "The Most Popular TV Soundtrack" award had little chance of success.
He was bored, and the little ancestor he was holding was much more so. It had been calmly resting in Ling Xi's arms for more than 30 minutes and was now at its most fidgety. It kept kicking in his arms, trying to jump down and play.
Ling Xi couldn't let it go. He'd made a pact with the director to keep the little ancestor with him diligently, and there was no way he'd break his pledge. But the tighter he held the little ancestor, the more it squirmed; and the more it squirmed, the tighter he held it. One man and one dog were on the verge of a fight. Angrily, the little ancestor stretched out its two front paws and patted his face.
"The award for music is up next. Let me remark that the shortlisted TV drama's theme songs are quite beautiful, and the award-winning one is very popular. My house's small business downstairs even has it on repeat."
Ling Xi was completely unconcerned about the honors being awarded on stage at this time. All of his focus was on the small dog, which he was trying to keep in his arms.
"Now, let us enjoy this lovely theme tune - congratulations to the "Jian Jue Tianxia" team and the creator on winning the 'Most Popular TV Soundtrack' award!"
The musical composition that Ling Xi was quite familiar with floated in the venue before the presenter could finish speaking. The crisp and refreshing male voice, combined with the melodic song, immediately transported listeners back to the plot of "Jian Jue Tianxia." They thought they saw an aloof immortal on a sword racing across the sky, pursuing the Great Dao.
The camera panned to Ling Xi, who was menacing the little ancestor in his arms and forcing him into his embrace.
Even the other nominees couldn't help laughing as his embarrassment played out on the big screen. Everyone applauded and smiled with kindness. Ling Xi gazed around in confusion, his head a blank space. Finally, his gaze was drawn to An Ruifeng, who sat beside him. Those two eyes, with which he'd spent countless evenings and early mornings intertwined, were smiling at him with pride.
"Congratulations," An Ruifeng praised: "Ling Xi, you won the award."
Ling Xi stood up and took a few steps towards the podium, perplexed, until he heard everyone guffawing and realized something was amiss! - He still had the dog in his arms! But he was already halfway to the stage, and it was improper for him to return and put the dog down. He could only bite the bullet and take quick steps to the podium while holding the little ancestor.
The presenter had never seen such an unconventional award winner before, but the rules didn't say he couldn't go on stage while holding a dog, so he handed the trophy to Ling Xi's hands while laughing heartily.
"Uh...thank you all...uh, thanks," Ling Xi muttered incoherently, holding the trophy in one hand and the dog in the other. He'd prepared the award acceptance speech since learning he'd been nominated and had even practiced it every night in front of the bathroom mirror after having a shower, but when he really won the award, he couldn't recall a single word.
It had been far too long since he'd been in the spotlight, and far too long since he'd written a song in the hopes of winning the prize. He once yearned for his considerable efforts to be recognized, but this recognition came so long after he had left the circle.
He was no longer delighted by this honor after such a long time; he simply felt ineffable.
He...won the award?
Ling Xi's mood was complicated as he held this trophy, the gold content of which was neither high nor low. He finished the shortest acceptance speech of the past award winners, dragged the dog's buttocks up and hugged him, bowed a full ninety degrees to the audience, and hurried quickly down the podium.
But, halfway through, he abruptly turned around and stepped in front of the microphone again, much to everyone's surprise.
Even the most seasoned host was unable to handle this unforeseen change.
But Ling Xi didn't require anything from him. He took a deep breath, stood in front of the microphone, abruptly lifted up the trophy, and spoke—
"Last year at this time, I was sitting in the audience, watching other people receive awards, applauding for others, and wishing others well. At the time, I hoped desperately that I would also win an award so that I could make my loved ones and those who care about me happy and proud. I'd like to thank the Golden Panda for allowing me to win this trophy in such an unexpected circumstance, and for giving my lover something he can talk about and brag about for the rest of his life. Even if we are old and gray-haired, I believe he will point to the trophy and tell the guests at home, "Look, although my family's old boss is not the most popular singer, he once wrote the most popular song.""
Ling Xi finished what was probably the most romantic award acceptance speech ever, and walked down the stairs with the trophy dazed by the crowd's applause.
The entire team was so shocked by Ling Xi's confession that no one remembered to congratulate him for a while. Previous award winners had to be polite when they came on stage, thanking the judges, the crew, the audience, and talking about their own experiences. Only Ling Xi deviated from the norm, with three of four sentences focusing on his mysterious lover.
An Ruifeng was the first to rise, and as he took the little ancestor from Ling Xi's arms, he extended his hand and shook hands with him.
In the eyes of the other artists around them, the two hot palms clasped tightly together looked like nothing more than two close brothers, but only Ling Xi knew that An Ruifeng's eyes were full of love as he looked at him.
As other awards were being handed on stage, they both took their seats. They had no intention of paying attention.
If An Ruifeng hadn't had to wait until he walked on stage to present the Drama King award, he would've left it all behind and taken Ling Xi with him, celebrating this honor in every way he could fantasize of.
He had always suspected that Ling Xi had a knot in his heart since his efforts had not yielded the desired results. Even though he had left the entertainment industry and was doing well in the food industry, he couldn't fill the hole in his heart. But now, this award had filled the void and made the final regret in his heart disappear.
Despite his claim that he had little chance of winning the honor, Ling Xi was as overjoyed as if he had been hit by a shooting star when the trophy was placed in his hands. With the trophy, he teased the little ancestor. The little ancestor peered curiously for a while before whimpering and biting the small panda on the trophy. Ling Xi, distraught, quickly removed his hand. An Ruifeng watched his shenanigans with it and wished he could see him like this for the rest of his life.
While playing, Ling Xi abruptly halted his hand motions, peered at the trophy for a moment, then raised his head and looked suspiciously at An Ruifeng's face. After a thorough examination of his expression, he lowered his voice and asked, "AnAn, tell me the truth. Did you purchase this award for me?"
An Ruifeng did not respond directly. Instead, when no one was looking, he quietly covered Ling Xi's hand.
He grasped the other party's smooth and warm hand and traced the guitar calluses on the other party's fingertips, vaguely and ambiguously misleading him: "What if I bought this award, and what if I didn't buy it?"
Ling Xi's expression was neither too dismayed nor too confident as a result of this response. He looked around very carefully, and when he saw that no one else was looking at him, he opened his mouth and whispered, blushing with shame—
"Actually, I want to win a Young Entrepreneur award."
An Ruifeng burst out laughing. He reasoned that he had ample time to accompany Ling Xi and pluck all the buds that piqued his interest.
[End]
Author's Note:
Yes, the main text is over!
This is not a story about personal struggle. It lacks the 'fighting against all odds and bettering yourself in hardship' feel. Rather, it's the story of a protagonist who finds true love after climbing the 12th tier and happily sits and goes down the slide.
Ling Xi and An Ruifeng are completely different individuals, or Ling Xi is absolutely different from all of the other artists in this story. Everyone wants to reach the top and prove their ability; everyone has ambitions and dreams. However, Ling Xi did not. Even at the start, he signed a contract because he wanted to sing, not because he wanted to be famous. After eleven years of struggling, he found that few people listened to his singing, so he gladly let it go.
His lightheartedness is also what I like the most about him. His sadness will never last more than three minutes.
An Ruifeng is not the same as Ling Xi. He is ambitious and has skills, and his hardware is up to the standard(not that hardware). As he stated when he received the Drama King title, the recognition of his acting abilities and good appearance helped him succeed. He was also very kind to Ling Xi. When he was tempted, he took the initiative to pursue and seduce. After the two got together, he prioritized Ling Xi in everything. Ling Xi was inseparable from him because of his gentleness.
They are two completely different people that happen to cross paths.
They happily fell in love. I hope you like it.