It’s a bloodbath in the comments, and yet, among the chaos, Shao Yanxi realises that not one single person is mentioning him by name.
The situation is like this –
[3 min! I want full info on these two in 3 min!]
[the one in white tshirt looks so handsome and obedient. shit, let me be in his place!]
[??? coming out?]
[Isn’t this that unknown celebrity who got carried onto Trending a few days ago?]
[I remember! Liu Yu’an! He grabbed a snake bare-handed, super handsome!]
Shao Yanxi can’t help but tilt his head, in disbelief that his 11 million followers all failed to recognise him. He reloads the comments to see… That he is still unrecognised.
He is referred to as ‘White T-shirt.’
Shao Yanxi “…” Bunch of fake followers.
Not to shift their blame but, really, given that Shao Yanxi is always dressed prim and proper in suits in public, and given the other person in question is an infamous, unpopular celebrity, nobody dares to think in that direction.
A D-list celebrity and the wealthiest man on Earth… Is just too far out, really.
Shao Yanxi is unwilling to give up, and continues scrolling down, and instead digs up and finds out what the depths of Internet notoriety can look like.
[disgusting fags, hope u fall into obscurity soon enough]
[Hey everyone, come one, come all, here is the ‘idol’ you’re fans of. Eww.]
Shao Yanxi’s expression grows grim. These damned commenters!
The worst offender is the following.
[Trivia time! Your celebrity’s list of infamous deeds includes – dissing, cussing, having sex with fans, stalking, forcing a CP on someone else (making his own BL videos)…]
But then, the comments suddenly disappear.
He tries to reload, only for the video of them in the airport to disappear as well.
Shao Yanxi “?”
His anger all but disappears, giving way to confusion.
He didn’t even order for the topic to be pulled or for the video to be pulled, what is Qin Shuhe, that CEO of WeChat doing?
Shao Yanxi turns around and Liu Yu’an also happens to be looking in his direction, nonplussed.
Liu Yu’an takes Shao Yanxi’s phone and tries to enter his own name, only to see that all the videos with him and Shao Yanxi in it are gone, cleaned up completely.
Liu Yu’an “!”
Who is it?
Didn’t he tell Ren Jianzhang to let it be? Then who else could it be? Certainly not his company.
That is when Liu Yu’an’s phone rings, and Liu Yu’an’s heart almost stops seeing ‘Zhuang Feiyu’ on it.
Great, as soon as he picks it up he hears someone happily reporting, “An-ge! I saw people posting the video of you and Mr. Shao in the airport online! I ordered them deleted!”
Liu Yu’an “…” What, he’s looking for thanks or something? He didn’t want the damned videos deleted!
Shit, and what was he doing when all the disparaging materials on him were floating about online? Jesus.
Liu Yu’an feels like puking up blood. He hangs up directly.
Shao Yanxi can’t hold back his laughter anymore. He’s laughing so hard he’s almost out of breath, and is leaning his head on Liu Yu’an’s shoulder.
“Stop laughing!”
Liu Yu’an isn’t actually really angry anymore, especially after seeing Shao Yanxi laugh. He digs Shao Yanxi’s head out to bite him and then push him onto the sofa.
“Let it be,” Shao Yanxi is smiling a little, reminding Liu Yu’an of what he just said himself.
“…”
Meanwhile, Zhuang Feiyu is blanking out.
“Huh?”
He mutters, then calls again… Dial tone…
Then, the phone is off.
“His battery’s probably dead.”
It really was; it was only fully ‘charged’ by morning the next day. Then, when they look it up again, the topic is no longer in popular circulation.
Though Liu Yu’an has got onto Trending earlier, but he’s still at the bottom of the list. Not many people would pay attention to him.
And with all related topics deleted and the video itself deleted, one can imagine how much discussion it could garner.
Though his WeChat account did end up a bit livelier than usual, with people asking if he’s gay, or if the Mr. White Shirt is his boyfriend and that he’s handsome and they look awesome together… And of course, people who say they are despicable and a ‘bad influence to the young,’ and ‘unfit to be an idol/celebrity,’ and people who say that money sure makes the world turn and capitalism is the source of all evil.
These are replies on the reply ‘he’ made yesterday clarifying that he did not do anything of the sort suggested by that trivia comment.
Besides that, ‘he’ also made another post yesterday saying that he has already filed a lawsuit against the person who is alleging that he did all those things.
Liu Yu’an thinks that having a team manage his account really is easier than him looking after it, as he is too lazy to go mano a mano with the 6-year-old keyboard warriors. He can leave that to Ren Jianzhang and his team of professionals.
He decides to pay more attention instead to his upcoming parts in Evernight. Before he heads off, he parts with Shao Yanxi, telling him to remember to visit him, before heading off to the filming studio in his eye-catching, limited edition nanny van along with Xiao-Zhang and Xu Qingqing.
Under the curious gazes of people, he casually greets the director, who ‘mm’s, and is also himself looking at Liu Yu’an like looking at a panda – filled with awe.
Director He thought that Liu Yu’an was actually related to people like assistant He, in a toyboy relationship, even.
But for him to actually be related directly to Shao Yanxi instead… Even if others might fail to recognise or doesn’t dare to recognise Shao Yanxi, but he himself is certain.
In the video, the two are dressed in couples’ set, with Liu Yu’an holding Shao Yanxi’s hand and, when Liu Yu’an is turning around talking to Shao Yanxi, Shao Yanxi would lean forward slightly and listen attentively, completely un-unapprochable and un-stern unlike his normal self. Definitely not the way a sugar daddy would treat his boy, but more like…
He stops his wild train of thought in time; if he continues he thinks he might not even dare to scold Liu Yu’an anymore at work.
Anyway, Liu Yu’an’s place in the hierarchy has been lifted several degrees inside his mind. Someone who can secure Shao Yanxi even while he’s known for his notoriety… And he must have been from a well-off background as well just to have the opportunity to know Shao Yanxi.
Oh no, his train of thought is running wild again. He stops and quickly says, “it’ll be your turn in two scenes. Go get make-up,” and then adds after pausing, “you can do it yourself if you want to, otherwise the make-up team will do it.”
Then he has his assistant lead Liu Yu’an to the dressing room.
Liu Yu’an replies ‘alright’ and then follows along. The assistant heads back as soon as he has led Liu Yu’an to his destination.
Meanwhile, the legend of Liu Yu’an’s dressing the last time has already been passed around, exaggerated, so as soon as they see him the team leader of the make-up team comes and asks, “An-ge, do you plan on doing it yourself?”
As she speaks she has already stuffed the brush into Liu Yu’an’s hands.
Liu Yu’an “…”
Other than a few other busy make-up artists, most of them are currently free as their jobs are already done for the day. They have also heard about Liu Yu’an’s ‘miraculous’ make-up techniques and thus are all here to spectate, curious, “I heard Qing-jie say An-ge’s make-up skills are unparalleled. I want to see too.”
“Isn’t that just an exaggeration?” Some remain unconvinced.
“Yeah, I’ll do it myself,” Liu Yu’an says. He’d be lazing about until his turn anyway; he can kill some time with this.
Then the artists move out of the way, forming a clear straight line for him to directly walk to the dressing table. Some others quickly tidy up the table and are quickly laying down all the cosmetics Liu Yu’an might need one by one where Liu Yu’an can reach them.
Liu Yu’an “…”
After moisturising his face first, he picks up the lotion as he is showered with praises of ‘An-ge’s skin is really healthy blablabla’… And start to apply his make-up.
They all watch unblinkingly. Huh? He doesn’t seem to be applying the make-up any different, but why is it that it just looks so much better and natural than when they do it?
They’re too curious and decide to ask directly.
Liu Yu’an “…”
Time and experience… But it’s not like he can say that out loud, can he?!
He would rather not have rumours circulate about how he’s all feminine and putting on make-up every day.
So he just shakes his head and says with an innocent tone, “I don’t know either.”
Someone says, “it might be a natural eye for cosmetics that he has.”
Another person immediately follows up, “not only that, but An-ge’s acting is amazing too.”
All the praises do make him feel a bit awkward, so he smiles and says, “I’m Liu Yu’an, not the Emperor of the Yaoguai, praising me won’t do you any favours, you know.”
And they all laugh in turn, until interrupted by the manager, “what the hell are you make-up artists doing?! Zhang Jiahe needs his make-up reapplied, are you blind? If you’re gathering to throw a party then can you do it elsewhere? Someone is trying to do work here.”
The artists, embarrassed, disperse. Then Xu Qingqing asks, “An-ge? Are you done yet?”
Liu Yu’an ‘mm’s and stands up, saying, “I’ll go get changed.”
After wearing the Emperor’s clothes, Liu Yu’an heads back to the studio proper with Xu Qingqing. Currently, they’re shooting the scene where the leads and their companions have just arrived at the realm of the Yaoguai. This will be reflected in post-production, with background buildings that are much taller than ones in the human realm, emphasising the wilderness and the beast within the residents of the realm.
The actors are currently looking surprised, but… when Liu Yu’an appears with his eye-catching red clothing and takes a seat not far from the camera, some of them can’t hold their attention long enough.
The professional leads are fine, but two of the companions and some of the extras’ gazes often drift from the camera towards Liu Yu’an, resulting in continuous retakes. So the director gets mad and chases Liu Yu’an outside.
Liu Yu’an “…”
Great, looking handsome and them failing to hold their eyes in place is his fault?
The assistant explains, “An-ge, please don’t blame the director. It’s mainly your clothes being so eye-catching and you looking too handsome…” And it’s another blabbering praise session.
Liu Yu’an can’t help but break into laughter, “yeah, yeah, I understand. You can get back to work and let me be.”
“Sure, sure,” the director takes him to a separate room, “An-ge, this room is for you, and you can take a rest here in the future.”
Liu Yu’an “…”
For him who was sharing the staff room with others to suddenly get a private room all to himself, huh. He thanks the assistant and, before he even sat down, the assistant is back saying it’s his turn now.
Liu Yu’an sighs and then heads back towards the studio.