Ch16 - I Choose You

Editor: Sky, Ghost

After Yan Jiajia got together with that director, she hasn’t gone out for work. Now that the two split up, she was chased out. She had no money nor a place to live.

Just as Wang Chao said, after she suffered through these hardships, she reminisced about how good Xie Zhuxing was to her.

Xie Zhuxing let her live at his place temporarily since all of her belongings were there anyway. She could take them out from the boxes and use them. Then, he took some of his own clothes, wanting to leave.

But, of course, Yan Jiajia wanted him to stay. He said that his “bro” was still downstairs waiting for him, not giving her the chance to say anything else as he left.

He wasn’t the type of person to go back to someone after they’ve split up. If they’ve broken up, then that was it.

What’s more, he found out that didn’t like Yan Jiajia that much; he didn’t even have a photo of her on his phone.

…”You like her that much, but you don’t even have a photo of her on your phone?”

He went back to Wang Chao’s residence. Wang Chao chatted a few more bad words about Yan Jiajia while he stayed silent.

They still had to practice their choreography and singing tomorrow. The two fell asleep, no words exchanged.

In the few following days, the two left early and returned late, going back and forth between Wang Chao’s house and the company. This was essentially no different from the training period.

During this period, Yang Jiajia called Xie Zhuxing twice. She asked him where he was living and when he was going to go back. He would say he had work, and that he would call her back after he’s finished.

It was the day of the filming for promotional photos and videos.

Duan Yikun brought the six youngsters to enhance their appearance first. Humans depended on clothes for their looks; they were all dressed up by the stylists for an hour. They changed entirely, looking different from their old selves. They were already handsome, but with the additional makeup and clothes, they were even more alluring.

Taking photos was quite difficult. Nobody had any experience, so they couldn’t meet the photographer’s requests. When they finally finished a set of photos, their necks and backs all ached. When they left the studio, Wang Chao was hanging off of Xie Zhuxing’s body.

The shooting for the video was a bit better. Compared with the hard static photos, everyone worked better in dynamic performances. Xie Zhuxing showed off his dance, while Wang Chao played the piano. Ji Jie rapped, Cheng Yao sang parts of the song, Gao Siyuan performed some magic, and Yang Xiaomu swung his nunchaku.

It was obvious that Duan Yikun had already decided each person’s roles within the group when choosing the members.

After busying themselves for a whole day, they completed all of the shooting. Everybody was so tired that they couldn’t stand up straight; they didn’t even have the energy to express their excitement.

Duan Yikun praised extravagantly, “The first shooting went extremely smoothly. Everyone’s performance was outstanding. Give yourselves a pat on the back.”

He took the lead, and several of them started clapping after. Although they were very tired, they all had a genuine smile on their face. They were proud of themselves while also cheering for their teammates.

Duan Yikun continued, “Make sure to practice the main song and dance seriously these days. You’ll be recording the song next Tuesday and shooting the MV on Wednesday. Everyone needs to be in top condition. Aside from that, starting from next week, the company’s official Weibo and website will start releasing your individual photos and videos simultaneously. The whole collection will be released on Sunday. Of course, the company will also try its best to push the publicity. You guys can also spread the news to your friends and family to increase your popularity?”

The members were excited beyond words. Wang Chao was also very happy. As he leaned against Xie Zhuxing’s body, he could feel his breaths becoming more urgent. He patted Xie Zhuxing on the back, and he looked at him. The two looked at each other and smiled.

Gao Siyun raised his hand and said, “Kun-ge, what’s the order of the release? I want to see where I’m placed so I can inform my friends and family beforehand.”

“There’s no major influence on who’s released first and who’s released last. The company will pay the same attention to everyone’s publicity, but I was afraid that you would mind it too much, so the release will be carried out according to age. Xiao Xie will start, and we’ll end with Cheng Yao. If you guys have any opinions, feel free to put them forward,” Duan Yikun said.

This way was pretty fair; everyone expressed that they had no objections.

Duan Yikun continued, “Tomorrow is a break. I’ll say one last thing, then you guys can go back and relax. When I asked you guys to choose a leader last time, you guys didn’t have an answer yet? Hurry and think about it, then send me a message. We must decide before the release of your profiles.”

Before they went back, the six bid each other a warm farewell. They all felt that the relationship within this group was slowly becoming more and more harmonious.

There was nothing that would push the development of friendship between men more than having to work hard together.

When they got home, Wang Chao didn’t even take off his shoes before he went straight to the sofa and laid down. He kept complaining about how his waist, legs, and body was sore and aching

Xie Zhuxing didn’t mind him as he sat aside, on his phone. Ever since the beginning of training, he’s been pulling this trick almost every day.

After Wang Chao complained enough, he laid there and said, “Ay, since we have a day off tomorrow, you should go back and get your things.”

“I made an appointment with a housing agent. I’m going to see the house tomorrow.”

Wang Chao got up with a whoosh. He looked at him anxiously as he said, “What house? Aren’t you gonna live here?”

“Didn’t I tell you already? I don’t want to hear others gossiping.”

“Stop whining, you’ve already lived here for so many days. If they wanted to talk shit they would’ve done so already.”

“No one said anything? Siyuan just asked me about it yesterday?”

Wang Chao wasn’t happy as he asked, “What did he ask?”

“He asked me if driving a Ferrari feels different.”

“Why’s he so fuckin’ annoyin’?!”

Xie Zhuxing looked at him and said, “You’re forgetting again. Kun-ge told you to stop speaking in Dongbei dialect, little piano prince.”

“…He’s so annoying!” Wang Chao said.

No matter what he said, Xie Zhuxing was persistent in not living with him. He could only give up and curse at Gao Siyuan for a while.

The rooms upstairs were all locked and uncleaned. The dust proof cloth was still covering the furniture. These days, Xie Zhuxing would sleep on the same bed as him. His bed was way bigger than the one at Xie Zhuxing’s house anyway.

Before they fell asleep, he saw Xie Zhuxing sending messages on WeChat. He didn’t even ask as he turned over to look. When he saw that the other person’s profile picture didn’t look like a woman’s, he said, “Don’t talk to your ex-girlfriend, just you try it.”

“…What are you gonna do?”

Wang Chao said righteously, “Nothing. If you get back together with her, then I’m never gonna hang out with you again.”

Xie Zhuxing, “….” Then maybe I should quickly get back together with her.

Wang Chao said again, “Have you sent Kun-ge a message yet?”

Xie Zhuxing didn’t catch on as he asked, “Send him what?”

Wang Chao grabbed his arm and said, “The leader. Who are you gonna choose?”

Xie Zhuxing looked at him, and a pair of round eyes stared back… he evidently wanted him to choose him.

Xie Zhuxing felt that it was unfathomable. “How can you be the leader when you’re this lazy?”

“Who said I wanna be the leader?”

“Then who did you choose?”

“You, of course! I already sent him the message. Look.”

He grabbed his phone and showed Xie Zhuxing. It turns out that he did send Duan Yikun a message already. It read, “I choose Xiao Xie.”

“I don’t want to be the leader,” Xie Zhuxing said.

“Why not?”

“Annoying, too much work.

Wang Chao thought about it, then asked, “Then who did you choose?”

Xie Zhuxing opened his WeChat and tapped Duan Yikun’s profile. Their chat history was empty; he hadn’t sent him a message before.

Wang Chao stared at his phone.

Xie Zhuxing wrote, “I choose Wang Chao,” then pressed send.

Wang Chao laid back with a smile.

“….”

This was like when they chose the class president in elementary school. I choose you and you choose me to prove that we were best friends..

“Don’t wake me up tomorrow morning. I don’t want to go with you to look at the house. I have to go home for a bit tomorrow,” Wang Chao said from the side. “Another thing, if you see a house that’s good, then just live there. Don’t be stingy with the rent. If you don’t have enough money, then I’ll give you.”

Xie Zhuxing shot a glance at him.

He changed his wording and smiled mischievously. “Just think of it as me lending it to you. I know you don’t value my money.”

He turned over, wanting to sleep. With his back facing Xie Zhuxing, he said, “Ay, just think of it as I have too much money and I don’t know what to do with it, so I’m helping the poor.”

Xie Zhuxing, “….”

He couldn’t hold it in as he raised his foot and kicked Wang Chao’s butt., restraining his strength

Wang Chao didn’t think that it hurt, but felt that it was weird. He turned around and asked, “What are you doing?”

Xie Zhuxing earnestly said some rubbish, “My leg cramped up.”

Wang Chao believed him as he sat up and helped him press it a few times. He asked dumbly. “Is it better?”

Xie Zhuxing, “…Better.”