Once the choreography for the leading single of Stupid Thing was released, apart from Tomas Xie – who was far away in Dali – the other five members of ID followed the choreographer for a couple of days, and little by little became familiar with the dance.
At first Duan Yikun and the members were afraid that the Captain would be lazy as before and refuse to learn, threatening to give up after mild criticism from the choreograph, particularly since there was no one around him to check his behavior.
But the facts prove that they were overthinking.
Their Captain is much more enthusiastic about this album than the previous one. Even though Xie Zhuxing wasn’t there, he arrived at the company at the right time every day and studied and practiced along with his teammates in earnest, surprising everyone with his diligence.
His parents were pleased. Their youngest son never fixed his bad habit of oversleeping no matter how much they beat him up. But now, he fixed it all by himself – after all, men need to have their careers.
Since they booked the ticket back to the Northeast region on the 26th of February, they will have to leave in two days.
Mrs. Wang asked his son, “I’m about to leave already, where’s that signature that I asked you to get from you teammate? How’s signing something so difficult?”
Wang Chao had long forgotten about that. He quickly sent Xie Zhuxing a message, “Give me your signature, make sure to ship it to me ASAP.”
A few minutes later, Xie Zhuxing called him.
Wang Chao answered with a grin. As he didn’t want to call him in front of his parents, he skipped upstairs and whispered, “Are you not busy now?” The intimacy within his voice is obvious to anyone listening.
Mrs. Wang was on her phone with reading glasses. When she heard his son upstairs, she peered at the stairs above the glasses and whispered to her husband, “Is Xiao Chao in a relationship?”
Mr. Wang was very dismissive, “It’s probably not anyone serious. Why would a nice girl be into him?”
Mrs. Wang was angry, “A nice girl ended up marrying you. Is my son not better than you?”
Mr. Wang had to compromise, “Better, much better.”
Wang Chao returned to his room.
Xie Zhuxing said he had just finished filming. He asked, “Who’s the signature for?”
Wang Chao didn’t want to say it was his mom. It’s a bit embarrassing to admit that his mom is not even his fan. He replied vaguely, “One of my female cousins wanted it. She asked during the spring festival but I had forgotten it until now. My parents are leaving for the Northeast the day after tomorrow and will bring it back to her.”
Xie Zhuxing said, “Then there should be enough time. I will mail it to you tomorrow. What’s your cousin’s name?”
Wang Chao replied with his mom’s name, “Yingzi, just write ‘For Auntie Yingzi’.”
Xie Zhuxing was amused, “You want me to call your cousin an auntie? Stop taking advantage of me.”
Wang Chao said, “Just write it, it’s no big deal. Do you not take enough advantage of me? My butt only stopped hurting four or five days after you left.”
Xie Zhuxing only chuckled in response.
Wang Chao heard someone talking on the other end and said, “Is there someone next to you?”
Xie Zhuxing said he was having dinner with so-and-so and so-and-so, both actors of the same movie, and that they were about to shoot another scene later.
Wang Chao had to say, “You should eat first.”
After hanging up, he tossed his phone aside and sat in front of the table as his thoughts wandered. He missed Xiao Xie. His butt hurt. But that’s good, he wants it to hurt again.
He received an oversized package from Dali the next day. Apart from a signed card for “Auntie Yingzi,” the package also contained flower cakes, Nuodeng ham, and Pu-er tea – all Yunnan specialties.
He didn’t like sweet, didn’t like ham, and didn’t drink tea. After pondering for a while, he realized that Xie Zhuxing didn’t send these to him.
He took the package back and gave everything to his mom, “Xiao Xie is filming for a movie right now in Yunnan, he sent these gifts for you and dad.”
Mrs. Wang was surprised, “He’s so polite!”
Wang Chao said, “He’s not being polite. He’s just a good person…Look, there’s also a signed card from him. He wishes you happiness and health, and drew a little heart for you.”
His mom gave it a look and said, “His handwriting’s quite good-looking.”
Wang Chao chuckled, “He himself is even more so.”
His mom looked at him strangely.
He didn’t detect that. He was still looking at that signed card: Xiao Xie’s handwriting is nice.
Mr. and Mrs. Wang returned to the Northeast.
Once he finished dance training for the day, he had even less to do. “Want to go get dinner together? It’s on me,” He invited his teammates.
His teammates all replied that they already have dinner plans of their own.
Is this a joke? Xiao Xie Ge is not here. If their Captain throws a fit mid-way during dinner, who’s going to take the brunt of it?
Wang Chao then called Liang Xi, “What are you up to tonight? Want to hang for a bit?”
Liang Xi said, “No, I’ll be busy.”
Wang Chao thought that he was going to be busy with dating and said, “It’s not like I’m a stranger to Bai Tu. Just bring him along.”
Yet Liang Xi said, “I’m actually going to be busy. I can’t leave at all.”
Bai Tu cut ties with his original agency last winter. Liang Xi helped him establish his own studio. Since the studio is in its beginning stages, there are lots of things that they have to worry about. Since Liang Xi doesn’t trust anyone else with the studio, he has to handle those things himself.
Wang Chao doesn’t care for gossip, so he doesn’t even know that Bai Tu has cut ties with his previous agency. He suddenly recalled that agent and asked, “Then did he get a new agent? His previous agent was not a good person by any means.”
Wang Qi quit his government job and went into business last fall. There aren’t as many rules as before, so Wang Chao is not as afraid of the video being leaked. Zhou Niansen asked him again, wanting him to help refer that copycat Bai Tu to audition in a movie, but he never answered. Then, they lost contact completely.
Liang Xi said, “He got a new one. That Zhou bastard – when he heard that Bai Tu wanted to cut ties with him, he almost lost his mind. Knowing that he couldn’t stop him, he found a newbie who looked a little like Bai Tu and searched everywhere for movies to audition in. But in the end, nothing came from it. That newbie even turned on him and reported him to the company executives, claiming that he leveraged his status to get him to sleep with him. He’s suspended for now and their company set up a special team to find out what shady things he has done in the past few years. It’s possible that he didn’t just force others to sleep with him, but may have committed financial crimes. They are saying that he might have used artists’ bank accounts to help investment firms launder money. That better not include Bai Tu, or else, he’ll pay for it.”
Wang Chao was confused the more he spoke. What is all this? He said, “Then go deal with whatever you have to deal with, feel free to let me know when you’re free to hang out.”
Neither his teammates nor Liang Xi has time to hang out with him. He then looked for another friend, Mr. Zheng Qiuyang who was born on the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Zheng Qiuyang was coincidentally free today. They agreed to meet at a restaurant.
When they met, they greeted each other, and without another word, each finished half a case of beer.
Had they followed their original rule, after they finish, they would ask each other, “What have you been doing recently?”
Then they would answer each other, “Just that, doing.”
Then they would laugh at each other’s answer. Very juvenile.
They met each other at a nightclub after fighting each other.
One day, they went to the same nightclub and met the same big-boobed internet model. The girl first promised Wang Chao to sleep with him, but after going to the restroom, the alcohol kicked in and she forgot that she had already promised someone. Then she met Zheng Qiuyang, so she promised him instead. Wang Chao thought that Zheng Qiuyang was trying to steal his girl, and without another word, began to fight him. After the fight, however, they realized that the drunk girl had gone ahead and promised yet another one.
There’s a reason why they became friends later on.
They were both regulars at nightclubs. They both loved big boobs. One of them was constantly hooking up with girls, and the other was constantly switching girlfriends.
Wang Chao never had any real friends because he was too rich and too chatty.
Zheng Qiuyang happened to be rich too, so he didn’t care for Wang Chao’s money, and he was a chatterbox too.
He was older than Wang Chao by nine years. Looking at Wang Chao was like looking at himself nine years ago.
Wang Chao also thought that in nine years, he would live like Zheng Qiuyang.
Today was different from usual. After knocking off half a case of beer, neither asked the other what he’s been doing recently.
The two sat straight in their seats with a serious expression.
Wang Chao opened his mouth first, “Lao Zheng, I won’t end up like you. I will definitely live better than you do.”
Zheng Qiuyang snorted, “Of course you won’t, I’m completely different compared to last year.”
Wang Chao said, “I’m in a relationship now.”
Zheng Qiuyang said, “Who doesn’t?”
Wang Chao continued, “With a he, not a she.”
Wang Chao chuckled, “Didn’t expect it, did you?”
Zheng Qiuyang had a complicated expression, “Mine is a he too.”
Wang Chao, “…Didn’t expect it.”
What does “best friends” mean? They can be studs together, and be gay together too.
They ordered another case of beer and split it in half.
Drinking while introducing their partners.
Zheng Qiuyang said, “My partner is in the entertainment field too. His name is Yuan Rui.”
Wang Chao hadn’t heard of him and thought he was probably not famous then. “Is he a singer or an actor?” He asked.
Zheng Qiuyang said, “He’s been in tv shows before but he now does reality tv. He will be famous soon.”
He will be famous just because you said so? Wang Chao suppressed the urge to diss him and said, “My partner is my teammate. He’s already famous – the most popular on our team.”
Who pays attention to your teammate? Zheng Qiuyang gave half-hearted praise, “Awesome. My partner used to be a model. He’s handsome and has an amazing figure.”
Who cares about someone’s figure. Wang Chao said, “My partner started dancing when he was twelve. He’s got a thin waist, long legs, and a perky ass. Super sexy.”
They fished out their phones and flipped through their albums to show off each other’s partners.
Zheng Qiuyang felt since he was older, he should take a step back. Thus, he said, “He’s pretty handsome.”
Wang Chao seemed proud of himself.
Zheng Qiuyang thought he would probably return the praise, but that guy only cared about himself. He was immediately displeased and said, “It’s obvious that he exercises a lot. You’re famous for being Mr. Three Seconds, does he not complain about your ability?”
Who’s Mr. Three Seconds??? And famous???
…Wait a minute, did he misinterpret something?
He grinned and didn’t. He could pretend that he’s on top.
Once they had enough to drink and enough to compare about, since the night has fallen, they said their goodbyes and headed home.
Since his parents had returned to the Northeast, he didn’t head to their family home, but Wangjin Xiyuan instead.
He unlocked the door and stepped into a brightly lit house.
Xie Zhuxing stood in the middle of the living room, displeased as he asked, “Who did you drink so much with this time?”
Wang Chao was very confused. He quickly slapped himself but didn’t feel any pain. Oh, this is a dream. Xiao Xie is in Dali. How could he be home?
He giggled as he replied, “With another gay man. He said I’m Mr. Three Seconds.”
Xie Zhuxing furrowed his brows.
Wang Chao still thought he was dreaming. “Angry? You want to spank me again, right?” He got under his nose on purpose.
Wang Chao unbuckled his belt, his pants drooping to the end of his thighs, turned around, and invited him, “Go ahead.”
Xie Zhuxing was about to do it.
Wang Chao suddenly asked, “How are you doing in Dali?”
With his back toward him, he continued, “I practiced the choreography for the second album. The instructor said I danced well.”
“I gave everything you delivered to my mom. I only tried a piece of the flower cakes, it’s alright.”
“Your handwriting is so pretty, so much better than mine.”
“Without you at home, no one wants to hang with me. They are all so busy.”
“I was drinking with a guy tonight. He showed off his partner to me for a whole night.”
“Have you every shown me off to anyone?”
“Never, right? There’s nothing to show off about me. I can’t even cook.”
He sniffled and raised his sleeve to rub his eyes.
Xie Zhuxing pressed his shoulder with one hand and whispered, “I missed you too.”
As if he had just woken up from a dream, he turned his head, staring so hard his eyes are about to pop out of their sockets.
Is he an idiot or something? What did he babble about with his pants half-off?