CH 55

Ch 55 - Newest Top Celebrity x Washed Up Film Emperor: An Answer

The drunk young man became increasingly unreasonable, not listening to the other’s advice and arrogantly wanting to achieve his own goals.

Although the inside of the car was wide, it became cramped with two adult men crammed inside.

Squeezed close together, elbows touching legs, like intertwined branches.

“Let’s get you home first, alright? It’ll be quick.”

Yan Qin was a little wet from the rain from when he arrived and that moist smell had not yet disappeared, the surface of his body was a little cold, but his breath was urgent and scalding.

The young man didn’t speak, tightly pursing his lips, his annoyance clearly displayed on his face.

He knelt on the spacious seat and crawled towards the other car door, seemingly wanting to leave.

The smooth and round curves between his long legs and waist swayed lightly with his movements, and the folds in his clothes changed accordingly.

“Angry?”

Yan Qin grabbed the young man’s thin, pale ankle and prevented him from moving, his tone carrying a bit of a smile.

The thin lips under his tall, straight nose bridge lifted, and his eyes were a deep black.

“You don’t deserve to be my dog.”

Lin Sui tilted his head, his tone ice-cold.

His drunkenness had gradually dyed his face as colourful as peaches and plums.

At this moment he was the escaping prey, and he was also the arrogant master.

“Since this is your request, don’t get angry once you sober up.”

Yan Qin’s voice was slightly hoarse, his fingers tightened a bit and he dragged Lin Sui towards himself.

The black car roof was like the pitch-black curtain of night, starless and cloudless.

The black van stopped at a corner of the bar’s underground garage was like a silent behemoth, swallowing up and concealing all the spring flowers and the autumn moon1.

Occasionally, a few nearby cars would enter or drive away, and the dim light would illuminate the watery mist in the beauty’s eyes, which was faint and hard to see clearly.

Lin Sui’s mouth had been covered, he was like a sacrificial offering, and like monster partaking in a meal.

The sound of footsteps came closer and closer, echoing through the vast and empty underground parking lot.

Lin Sui’s mind had originally been half-clear, but with the delayed effects of the alcohol surging up and the added disruptive movements, he was now a little dizzy.

He cowered subconsciously, unaware of his fingers tightening up and scratching the leather seat.

Yan Qin’s hands played across Lin Sui’s back, straightening out the wrinkles of Lin Sui’s shirt.

Outside the car, a pair of friends talked cheerfully as they said goodbye, paying no attention to the car next to them.

The hibernating beast moved stealthily inside its warm and moist lair, relaxing as the sounds of conversation gradually stopped.

Lin Sui frowned uncomfortably, although it was already autumn, the alcohol still made him feel a surging heat.

Lin Sui stuck his face against the ice-cold glass, and the breath he expelled made the glass foggy.

The people outside the window moved, and the light passing through the top of his head illuminated his moist red lips.

He sensed movement behind him, and turned around to see Yan Qin.

In this romantic place, flying swallows spread their song.

Yan Qin looked at him lost in thought, contentedly thinking, teach me how to not love him.

He wanted to monopolise his eyes, he craved his love, he was perfectly willing to serve him, to live for him and to die for him.

Lin Sui fell asleep laying flat across the car seat, his face still stained with tears.

Yan Qin draped his own coat over his legs, then grabbed the wrinkled trousers Lin Sui had kicked to the ground, folded them and placed them to the side, then got down from the car, walked around, and got on the driver’s seat.

Outside the rain was much stronger than before, the fine drizzle had turned into a downpour within the span of these two hours.

Inside the intense rain, the people finding themselves in an enclosed space would have a kind of ultimate tranquillity.

Yan Qin didn’t turn the music on inside the car for fear of waking the sleeping person up, but he had a romantic melody playing inside his mind.

During the 80 second red light, Yan Qin took a few pictures of Lin Sui’s sleeping face, and his heart was still trembling with excitement by the time he put his phone down.

Just like how the rain would always stop, this curtain was not closed definitively.

Yan Qin brought Lin Sui back home and carefully cleaned him up, he looked at the young man’s flushed, sleeping face and kissed the corner of his mouth.

When Lin Sui woke up the next day, his head hurt terribly. He’d drunk a lot in order to give him this opportunity, and he could hold his drink pretty well, but the after-effects of yesterday’s drinks had been a bit excessive and, coupled with the fierce exercise, his brain was almost turned into mush.

He rubbed his temples, walked out of the room, poured himself a cup of water and sat on the sofa to sober up.

His somewhat messy room had been neatly tidied up, even the trash had been taken out.

Lin Sui drank water with an unclear expression, and laughed half a minute later.

Silly dog.

Rain fell down for several days in a row, and the weather became colder and colder.

Fans of the Yan Returns To Lin CP also had their hearts chilled, because they discovered their CP seemed to be having a BE.

Pictures from the party a few days ago had been revealed, and Lin Sui and Yan Qin didn’t interact or look at each other from beginning to end, it seemed like they weren’t partners working together, but rather strangers.

Solo fans of both parties cheered and celebrated, and the CP super topic cried out in grief.

@Ice Cola: No, I don’t believe it’s true, my CP is the world’s number one, they really can’t be more real, how could they have a BE? Maybe it’s just a fight!

@Chachazi: Sisters, don’t panic, listen to my analysis. If it was only business between them and the affair was fake, then they would certainly still keep a peaceful exterior even if they had a falling out, but its precisely because their feelings are real that they don’t need to fear the other party’s misgivings when they’re having a fight! They’ll definitely reconcile, it’s just a bit of fun between husband and husband!

@Yan Sui: Right, right, maybe they just fought or are giving each other the cold treatment, this actually clearly shows that the feelings between them are real, it’s because of love that their anger is so obvious, it’s the same when my partner and I have a fight!

@It’s Suisui Ya: Sisters, settle down. In fact, I don’t believe those marketing accounts that say they’re going to break it off, if they were going to break it off they would have done so already, isn’t there still a romance movie waiting to be aired? From a benefit’s point of view, they can’t make a fuss and end it before then. They won’t cut it, definitely not!

@Likes Eating Sugar: This believer is already praying. I really don’t like shipping these kinds of CPs that start sweet but end bleak. Logically speaking, the two of them shouldn’t have resource disputes or the need to purify since their fans were from different communities from the start, it’s not necessary for them to do this. Geges, please make up soon, this is almost unbearable.

However, they were bound to be disappointed. Even during these circumstances, marketing accounts spread rumours that they were breaking up and getting divorced, but neither studio made any moves.

There were no work dealings between them aside from accepting a few dinner party invitations.

There were many celebrations to attend recently. Lin Sui straightened out his clothes in the lounge as the door opened, but the person who came in was neither an assistant nor a member of staff.

Lin Sui’s collar was carefully straightened out by a man, he lifted his eyes, and met Yan Qin’s gaze through the surface of the mirror.

Lin Sui let him wait on him, lazily asking: “Who let you in?”

“They couldn’t stop me, I said the organiser had something to tell you.”

Yan Qin was wearing an ash-grey suit today, it was well-tailored, perfectly outlining his figure.

Yan Qin asked in a low voice: “Am I a qualified plaything?”

Lin Sui spoke with a fake smile: “This is what the organisers told you to say to me?”

“It’s what I wanted to say to you.”

The light source was on top of Lin Sui’s head, and his eyelashes cast a layer of light shadow floating over his cheeks, which Yan Qin couldn’t help but reach out to touch.

Lin Sui grabbed his wrist, his expression indifferent: “Don’t wear down my renewed interest towards you.”

“It seems like I did pretty well a few days ago,” Yan Qin’s wrist rotated, he didn’t shake off Lin Sui’s hand, but rather slipped his hand into Lin Sui’s grasp, “I’ll continue my efforts.”

Yan Qin forcefully inserted his fingers in between Lin Sui’s. Yan Qin’s hands were very warm, and he seemed to be covering Lin Sui’s hand with heat.

He wasn’t embarrassed at all, on the contrary, he viewed it somewhat as an honour.

Lin Sui’s words fell into his ears not as an insult, but as a compliment.

Lin Sui’s lips were very red tonight, the lighting in front of the camera was relatively bright, so everyone would have slightly thicker makeup.

When Tao Yang, the assistant guarding the entrance of the lounge, was about to push the door open, the door finally opened from the inside.

Not knowing why Film Emperor Yan Qin had taken so long to say a few words, Tao Yang looked around inside the room through the small crack in the door, and let out a breath seeing Lin Sui standing there.

She threw a glance at Yan Qin’s face and was a little confused on the inside.

Had Film Emperor Yan Qin’s lips been that red when he went in just now?

Lin Sui and Yan Qin still didn’t exchange a single glance during this party.

They sat a few people apart and didn’t say much even in front of the camera.

But Yan Qin’s heart wasn’t as pained as last time, having a strange satisfaction instead.

If all this could no longer be boldly done out in the open, then their intimate kisses in secret could also be considered perfect.

The originally lively CP super topic had fallen into a rare silence, everyone was in a bad mood, some people couldn’t stand it and had already unfollowed.

@It’s Suisui Ya: Heartbreaking , they’re not really going to have a BE right? Before I was the one trying to persuade you to see it to the end, but now I don’t know if I have the courage to wait for the conclusion.

@Yan Returns To Lin: Don’t worry, they’re definitely real.

@It’s Suisui Ya: Boo hoo hoo I can still ship it even if they twist the knife, but if they continue like this and don’t cooperate, then I might only be able to cry in vain over old sugar. But no matter how it is I won’t stop being a fan of the wife, oh yeah the wife is super beautiful!

@Yan Returns To Lin: He’s my wife.

@It’s Suisui Ya: Yeah yeah yeah, everyone’s wife!

Yan Qin endured and endured, taking a few deep breaths and relaxing as he looked at the pictures in his photo album.

Forget it, they’re just kids, let’s not argue.

Although he said this, Yan Qin still couldn’t help but get up from the sofa and run to the bedroom to kiss Lin Sui.

He’d been kicked out of the bed by Lin Sui, who couldn’t take it any more. They’d only done it twice today, but he still obediently went to sleep on the sofa.

Lin Sui was so annoyed in his sleep that he pressed his palm against Yan Qin’s face, then turned around and continued sleeping.

Satisfied, Yan Qin returned to the sofa, crossed his legs, and posted a Weibo.

@Yan Returns To Lin: The wife is making me sleep on the sofa =3=

Those who didn’t understand commented: Your lover? You’re married?

Those who were used to it commented: Yanyan didn’t take their medicine again today, go see a doctor asap.

“Damp” was aired in winter.

The director was not a person who was fond of publicising without restraint, he was an indie artist, and this film was also headed to the awards, so he really didn’t care about business revenue. The reason he’d hired Lin Sui and Yan Qin initially was also not because of their reputation or popularity, it was just that he felt that they were very fitting.

But Lin Sui had a lot of fans, Yan Qin had a lot of movie fans, and the number of CP fans between them was also quite considerable, so, despite it not having that much publicity, there were still a lot of people who went to see the movie, even to the extent that cinemas in various regions increased their rate of screening.

@It’s Suisui Ya: I’m thankful my city is relatively big, so I was much better off than some sisters who went to the cinema but couldn’t watch a screening. But I actually went very late at night and there weren’t many people there, the horror movies were more lively, and there were just 32 people seated when the movie started, 30 of which were from our group of girls who went to watch it together.

We were very quiet while we watched, and it seemed like we fell into that illusion called Zhong Ling as we followed An Xu’s scenes.

The whole movie gave me a dreamlike feeling, but it also felt vaguely painful, just like being awake but having a beautiful dream about love, clearly knowing it’s fake and clearly knowing you’re bound to wake up, but just being unable to stop yourself from indulging in it.

The thick fog, the fine drizzle, the sleigh bell, the haze of vaguely wanting to say something but hesitating, it made one’s heart feel as damp as the weather.

When the rain stopped and the fog scattered, An Xu felt despondent, I also felt sad.

Not only because of the people in the movie, but also because of the people outside of it.

I’m afraid that their feelings are also like this, that they really existed, and that they also really didn’t necessarily amount to anything.

This long Weibo received several thousand reblogs, and people wailed loudly underneath it.

@Yan Returns To Lin Get Married Soon: I’m screaming crying so angry I don’t want to live anymore. I actually skipped past this CP several times, but it was because I never got the point of it, it wasn’t until I saw this movie that I entered the pit, but who would have thought that it was expired sugar? Why did the CP just die after I got into it? I changed to this ID in anger, they need to hurry up and get married!

@If You See Me Tell Me To Go Study: Boo hoo boo hoo, I’m crying until I become Lady Meng Jiang2, crying until I become a siren!

Lin Sui, who never went on Weibo, also saw this discussion.

He’d actually been fairly undisturbed regarding the content of the movie before, but that last sentence did actually make him frown slightly.

Lin Sui was a mistrustful and sensitive person who liked preparing for a rainy day and being three steps ahead, he actually had a very clear plan for his own future, but it was only regarding this matter that he had no way to make a judgement.

He could only walk in a fixed direction, it didn’t matter if the thing in front of him was a cliff or an abyss.

He didn’t know what kind of end he and Yan Qin would have, he would have an answer only after all the dust had settled.

He had a judgement in his heart about the things he’d done, and he wouldn’t have any delusions.

He was about to take his next step, and this time, his mission would also quickly come to an end.

Yan Qin was already starting to make a turn for the better, he’d been devastated for a time after the blow he’d been given last time, but seeing his recent circumstances, it seemed like he was interested in touching a script again.

It might be that he’d received positive feedback from him, so he was ready to cross that hurdle.

How could it be called a hurdle if it was barely only like that?

As far as relatively tough people were concerned, one push off a cliff would usually not leave them unable to recover.

The thick snow had not yet disappeared, and the depths of winter arrived.

Yan Qin had recently been learning how to make dumplings. He’d lived alone for many years and had pretty good hands-on skills, but he’d always thought that things like making and rolling dough were quite troublesome, so he’d never done it before.

Fortunately, it wasn’t hard to master, and he got decent after practicing several times.

It was tradition in Yan Qin’s hometown to eat dumplings on Lunar New Year, and he wanted to make dumplings for Lin Sui on the Lunar New Year to wish him a safe and smooth new year.

Although he knew Lin Sui wouldn’t lack these kinds of things and that the taste of those he could buy at a restaurant would surely be better than his own, Yan Qin thought that the feeling wouldn’t be the same.

Apart from these things, he had a feeling that he would soon overcome his bottleneck, and that when he got a script again and got in touch with the story he wouldn’t think of Lin Sui’s face from that day, after all, he and Lin Sui had already reconciled.

Yan Qin tried one of the things he made and placed the rest in the fridge, planning on cooking more tomorrow.

Almost there, he just had to wait until New Year’s and he could bring some in front of Lin Sui.

Yan Qin’s mood was great as he left his home to go see Lin Sui.

Lin Sui was right in the middle of an event, but it would soon be time for it to end. For now, he didn’t know which residence he would return to, so he would just follow their car when the time came.

But Lin Sui seemed to have been delayed for a while, and he actually arrived home before him.

When Lin Sui opened the house door and saw the man giving him a pair of slippers to change into, he covered up the complex feeling in his eyes.

Winter days were best suited to eating warm things, it didn’t matter if it was steaming hotpot or steaming hot you-know-what.

All of a sudden Lin Sui remembered the pair magazine shoot he did with Yan Qin.

At that time he’d used the paintbrush to trace over Yan Qin’s face, if rather than being in the middle of a shoot they had been somewhere like now, his paintbrush would have probably drawn over someplace else.

But it seemed fine, he naturally had other places whose shape to trace over.

More vivid than a paintbrush, less giving than a mould.

The world was mottled into colourful chunks, and the rushing chill was dispelled by the central heating. Lin Sui was particularly sober this time, he stared at the drops of condensed mist sliding down the outside of the window and closed his eyes.

The blue butterfly fluttered, cowering under touches and pecked kisses.

Yan Qin thought that he was the happiest person in the world, and nothing could surpass this moment.

But, as always, his illusion was shattered. He thought he’d misheard when he wiped the sweat off Lin Sui’s neck.

“Say that again.”

“This time, I’m really fed up.”

Lin Sui said it again just as he’d wanted, and separated from his body.

As he walked, the dense snow fell like droplets outside the window.

It turned out there really were such ruthless people in the world who could change in the blink of an eye.

“You don’t need to come any more.”

The young man put on his clothes with his back towards him, covering up the traces as if it never happened.

He was not a qualified master, he didn’t deserve to keep a pet.

“Lin Sui, am I that unworthy in your eyes?”

Yan Qin could actually do a lot of things, he could grab the young man right now and urge him to stay, but then what? Forcefully keep him here? He could keep him for a time, but he couldn’t keep him for a lifetime.

It was as if a cold wind had flowed backwards into Yan Qin’s heart, chilling him to the bone.

He didn’t understand why Lin Sui was so heartless over and over again, why this kind of person could just like if he said he liked, just dislike if he said he disliked, and control another’s existence by merely relying on this like, with no regard at all about his feelings, simply selfish and hateful to the extreme.

“I’ve always been this kind of person, you should have known from the start.”

Lin Sui avoided answering the question of his worth, instead responding like this.

He was fundamentally like this, selfish, indifferent, hard to love, unworthy of being loved.

Lin Sui knew Yan Qin wouldn’t urge him to stay again, he was also a prideful person.

He walked out the door, disappearing into the boundless snow.

Yan Qin once again returned home like a wretched dog, but this time he didn’t throw away the button in his display cabinet, nor did he log onto Weibo to delete those posts, he just quietly looked out at the unmelted scene outside the window, and stared at his palm a little absent-mindedly.

The heating in his home wasn’t turned on, so the flow of cold air froze him, and the muscles in his face seemed to be frozen and necrotic. He seemed to have some remaining soft warmth in the palm of his hand, but upon closer inspection, it was only a fantasy.

Yan Qin stiffly got on the bed, closed his eyes, and dazedly went to sleep.

After waking up, he went to wash up somewhat mechanically, then sat in his living room in a daze.

He was too tired to think, too tired to eat, he could only sit in a simple daze, as if he couldn’t sense the passage of time.

It was only until his stomach protested that he slowly made his way to the kitchen.

He had none of yesterday’s joy as he took out the cold dumplings from the fridge, he just numbly watched the boiling water, then swallowed down the tasteless food.

But he’d barely taken two bites when he put down his chopsticks and impatiently rushed outside.

He really wanted to know that answer.

Was he, Yan Qin, really that unworthy in Lin Sui’s heart?

Yan Qin used a few tricks to inquire about Lin Sui’s whereabouts, and found out Lin Sui was abroad.

He had a commercial shoot planned and had to go abroad, it might take over a week, and it would almost be New Year’s by the time he came back.

Yan Qin didn’t blindly go looking for him, but he also didn’t give up the wait.

He guarded the door of Lin Sui’s home, not the residence he’d been to a few times, but rather his mother’s house.

He just stayed nearby, lingering like a wandering ghost.

On the day Lin Sui’s car returned, he couldn’t help but come out of his hiding place.

Snow drifted in the sky again, its flakes like white catkins.

Several bodyguards were on the alert upon seeing the person who suddenly came out, but Lin Sui motioned for them to fall back.

He walked towards Yan Qin holding a black umbrella.

Yan Qin was in a very bad state, his beard was unkempt and he looked haggard, where was the Film Emperor’s former glory?

Yan Qin himself didn’t seem to be aware, he just stared fixedly at Lin Sui.

“I want an answer.”

“That day’s answer.”

He had to hear Lin Sui himself say he was unworthy before he’d be able to give up.

Lin Sui looked at him quietly. Snow fluttered down, falling over Yan Qin’s head, falling over Lin Sui’s umbrella.

“I heard your injuries were so serious when you got into that car accident that you were in a wheelchair for two years, and you were in recovery for a whole year.”

Yan Qin didn’t understand why he suddenly said that, he only felt his heart become even colder.

“Will you still be able to stand back up this time?”

Yan Qin didn’t have time to ask what he meant before Lin Sui turned around.

He still wanted to chase after him, but was stopped by the bodyguards.

Yan Qin quickly understood what Lin Sui’s words meant, his assistant called and told him things weren’t looking good.

This time, his blacklisting was even more powerful than before. It wasn’t just film and entertainment companies, several large and influential alliances arose to completely sever his career.

Yan Qin suddenly remembered what the first thing he heard him say was when he first met Lin Sui.

——Does a washed-up star still deserve to make a comeback?

The first time their relationship deteriorated was from the beginning of the New Year, and surprisingly, it ended in the New Year.

Yan Qin returned home, grabbed the already rotten dumplings, threw them in the bin, and simply tidied up for a while, then left.

Inside the closed doors, the white button was still inside that display cabinet, quietly covered in dust.

Yan Qin broke off contact.

He silently left the city without informing anyone.

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1 From a poem, a metaphor used to describe a wonderful time spent in a beautiful location, also being used euphemistically since spring has connotations of love and lust. Top.

2 Lady Meng Jiang, or Meng Jiang Woman, is from a Qin dynasty folk tale. Her husband went to work to build the Great Wall, she went to visit him to bring him winter clothes but heard he’d already died, and cried so much her tears broke down a stretch of the Wall and revealed his body. Top.