CH 37

Chapter 37: It’s Time for Rejuvenation

Moonlight powder: “Stop your brain! Are you trying to piss me off!”

Gold powder: “I admit that my brother has become very delicious now, but Bai Yueguang? Can’t afford to provoke.”

When someone from the artist agency department called Wei Ge, he was still sleeping. After receiving the call, his first reaction was: Fuck, shit has hit the fan. Shen Jintai took advantage of Bai Qingquan when his heart had softened and used him for hype. Or it could be Zheng Siqi. Monsoon Entertainment was also a well-known hype player.

“It’s not a good thing to be involved with gay rumors. Fortunately, there’s not much trouble now. The company doesn’t need to make a statement for the time being, but you should pay attention to it in the future.” The chief boss said.

After hanging up the phone, Wei Ge immediately went to Weibo to check on the hot searches.

There has been a lot of hot searches recently. To remain on the hot search as a top traffic, you have to brush your sense of existence every three to five times. Any more than that can appear overexuberant. Getting on the hot search too often can make passerby feel as if that star has misled the country which can easily cause disgust. Especially today, when there’s already another social case that’s trending*.

*Clarity: it’s basically saying if you want to remain on the hot search you have to make some splashes to stay topical. But too many splashes may make people think you’re deliberately doing things to create hype to get on the hot search and in turn will cause them to dislike you. Gao Qiao is referring to news of Bai Qingquan and Shen Jintai’s interview which already made the hot search. If this current situation gets on the hot search, it can be bad because people will think everything was intentional.

He immediately called Bai Qingquan and said: “What’s the matter, didn’t I tell you to take precaution?”

Bai Qingquan’s mood was stable as he joked: “I always underestimate my popularity. The troubles of idols.”

Wei Ge: “…I have told you several times that it’s okay to sell rot, but not really rot. If you want to taste Shen Jintai’s situation in the past two years, you can let go of yourself.”

Only then did Bai Qingquan become serious: “I think what broke out is the truth*, and we need to pay attention to it. If it is all rumors, it doesn’t matter. It will eventually be proven to be false in the end. ”

*Clarity: he’s referring to them eating dinner together and Shen Jintai pulling his arm and protecting him. There’s no point in denying that since it’s all caught on camera. What’s not true is that he and Shen Jintai are together so that can be easily overturned.

He also read some of the comments. He and Shen Jintai? He wanted to laugh when he saw it. How could he possibly like Shen Jintai, and even less possible to be little sisters with him!

Hit the number*!

*Slang help: hit the number (撞号啦) = not sure what this is referring to.

Wei Ge: “Aren’t you afraid that Shen Jintai involved you for hype? After all, you’re filming a series together for a long time. Even the role you play has an ambiguous relationship with Li Xu. To prevent being pulled in by someone in the future you should make it clear that you do not have a friendly relationship with Shen Jintai.”

But in actuality, he didn’t hate Shen Jintai that much now. Bai Qingquan didn’t say anything. He thought Wei Ge wouldn’t believe him if he told him anyways. After all, he had scolded Shen Jintai several times in the past.

Lying on the bed, Bai Qingquan memorized the script drawing a few inspirations from the rehearsal at the dinner table today. His script now has more written words on it, as he followed Shen Jintai’s lead in doing his homework.

Shen Jintai. No one would change their temperament for no reason. He thought that the drastic change came about because his life had been hit too hard. The man who retreated from the circle and chased wildly failed to catch up, his family became bankrupt, and he was also the object of ridicule in the entertainment industry that eventually drove all his fans away.

Heaven has a funny way of teaching you things. To love without love. To want money without money.

He suddenly sympathized with Shen Jintai.

‘I am still too kind,’ Bai Qingquan thought. Beautiful and kind. He turned on the front camera of his phone and looked at it, making an ugly face. Still very good-looking. The sight was so beautiful it made him want to cry.

—

Shen Jintai hadn’t been able to rest. After sending Bai Qingquan back, he went to look at the gold powder side. Dozens of gold powders have been waiting for him. He stayed with his fans for half an hour before he left. When he returned to the hotel, it was already late at night.

Xiao Tang got him hot water, and said to him before leaving the room: “Brother, you should be careful when you interact with Zheng Siqi in the future.”

Shen Jintai took off his T-shirt, revealing his lean upper body, turned around and asked: “What’s the matter?”

Xiao Tang looked at his body blankly completely dazed. Every time he looks at Shen Jintai’s figure he couldn’t help but be amazed.

His slender waist seems to be a shoulder wider making it look especially hot and sexy.

“Hmm?” Shen Jintai frowned.

Xiao Tang recovered and hurriedly said: “Monsoon Entertainment loves to hype, whether it’s black or red. This time, they must’ve bought the search again. Otherwise, how could it gain this much traction.”

Xiao Tang has analyzed it. Shen Jintai couldn’t afford it, and Bai Qingquan wouldn’t buy this kind of hot search. The most likely culprit would be Zheng Siqi’s side. It’s not like they haven’t been guilty before. Last time Shen Jintai had dinner with Zheng Siqi, his company hyped up a rumored relationship.

“They shouldn’t have bought it this time.” Shen Jintai said: “Weibo should have done it by itself.” He didn’t suspect Monsoon Entertainment since Zheng Siqi’s name wasn’t included in the hot search. Many media outlets simply referred to him as “the handsome fresh meat guy”.

Weibo and celebrities have a symbiosis relationship. Sometimes stars would take the initiative to buy hot searches and sometimes Weibo would send hot searches by itself. To get more traffic to their site, Sina* needed to rub off heat, especially now that the competition for media outlets has become so fierce.

*Sina = Chinese tech company that owns Weibo.

Xiao Tang couldn’t help but glanced at Shen Jintai again. Shen Jintai’s back was truly majestic with a lovely furrow. As soon as it straightens, it revealed a strong flexibility of his shoulder and back.

“Okay, go back to your room and rest.” Shen Jintai said. Xiao Tang closed the door and went out. Shen Jintai had noticed Xiao Tang’s somewhat surprised gaze, so he took off his clothes to examine himself.

He looked at his may cherries first.

……

Holy fuck. His brain exploded, and he only felt heat surging.

Good…good… He breathed in deeply. When the heat on his face dissipated, he glanced down at his waist.

He was only 20 years old. As a 20-year-old young man, he wasn’t fat, so his waist was never that thick. He couldn’t really tell how much it really shrank. The focus on this reward though isn’t now but when he gets much older. At that time his waist will still be like it was now.

Although the waist had not changed significantly, it seems to look a lot better visually. He felt that as long as he worked on his abs a little, this waist would be peerless.

With a ding dong Xiao Ai suddenly came online: “Dear.”

Shen Jintai said: “Why did you come online by yourself again?”

Xiao Ai: “I want to explain our prizes to you.”

Shen Jintai: “Go ahead.”

Xiao Ai: “Our killer waist is actually not only characterized by slenderness and durability, but also by good flexibility and strength. The waist we reward is a good waist that’s versatile in all aspects. It’s not only good-looking, it’s also practical.”

Is it?

A man’s waist is very important, and the electric motor starts by leaning on his waist. He remembered that in <Everyone Loves Bai Yueguang> Yan Qiuchi had a peerless male dog waist. Unexpectedly, Shen Jintai was a little happy that the male protagonist’s welfare could be distributed to him one day.

“Actually…” Xiao Ai said: “The other things we reward, such as the ass and may cherries, are also not only good-looking but are very practical as well!”

“Well, you can disappear now.” Shen Jintai quickly stopped him.

Xiao Ai snickered “hee hee” and said: “Dear, Xiao Ai will take a leave of absence for a period of time. During Xiao Ai’s leave, my colleague Xiao Mei will come to serve you. His personality is different from that of Xiao Ai. You have to forgive him if he steps out of line a little.”

Shen Jintai: “You can ask for leave?”

“Yes. Kiss. Don’t miss me too much.” Xiao Ai went offline after speaking.

Shen Jintai took a shower and felt deeply troubled by his may cherries. He won’t rub his upper body anymore whenever he showers in the future! He changed his pajamas and climbed into the bed. He got his phone and wanted to swipe it.

When his phone turned on, he saw several missed calls from his stepmother, Liu Qi.

Shen Jintai thought for a while then decided to call back. As soon as he got through, he heard a voice calling his name: “Jintai.”

Shen Jintai gave a “Nn” and asked: “What’s the matter?”

Liu Qi: “Auntie just wanted to ask you how your filming is going. Is it hard work?”

“If you have something to say, just say it.” Shen Jintai lay down on the bed.

Liu Qi coughed, as if embarrassed, and said: “You know your little sister is taking piano lesson. Her teacher is Wei Siming, the one with the unique name. He has very high fees. You know our situation at home now. I wanted her to change teachers, but she refused. Your father…”

“Brother, I don’t want to change teachers!” Shen Jintai heard the sound of a little girl shouting.

Shen Jintai asked directly: “How much does it cost?”

Liu Qi said: “We still have money in the family. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not here to ask for money. Your little sister listens to you the most so please can you talk to her.”

“No, I have money.” Shen Jintai said: “I’ll send it to you later.”

“Brother, when will you be back?” Shen Xiaomei asked.

Shen Jintai pursed his lips and said: “Brother is filming. The crew is busy and so I can’t leave. When I have time, I will go home to see you. You be good.”

He likes children, but he has no experience in getting along with children, and he has no feelings for Shen Xiaomei. He just had a kind of bond, related by blood, that he felt he couldn’t completely ignore.

It surprising that Shen Jintai had a very normal relationship with his stepmother and father. The exception was that he loved his little sister, born from his stepmother, very much. The two siblings had very similar personalities, extremely temperamental, arrogant, and capricious.

Shen Jintai gave all his love to Yan Qiuchi, and all his affection to Shen Xiaomei.

In a way he considered it fortunate that the Shen family was like this. If the Shen family valued filial piety and was a harmonious family, he didn’t really know how he would get along with this strange family. This strange alienation was very good and saved him a lot of trouble. Things that could be solved with money were not considered problems.

He was now richer than most people. He had millions in his bank card and will make more in the future. Since he had the money, he can help out the Shen family a little and keep his hands clean.

Haha, how easy. In exchange for peace, it could also be considered a reward for his kindness. As long as it’s not too much, he can be satisfied*.

Clarity: he’s referring to the reward he gets (not be troubled) by helping the Shen family (as long as it’s reasonable).

As a big star, if it’s exposed that he ignored his family, leaving them destitute, even if there’s valid reasons behind it, he’ll leave a bad impression on passerby.  He also didn’t want to be hotly searched because of family conflicts. Some stars had been sued by their parents which created troublesome and embarrassing situations.

—

Fame and fortune often go hand in hand. As soon as fame picks up, profits will follow. Li Meilan said excitedly: “A brand contacted me and said it wants to cooperate with us. Would you like to pick it up?”

“An endorsement?” Shen Jintai became excited. He also had a day where he could get an endorsement.

“It’s an endorsement,” Li Meilan said: “It’s just a small brand.”

Shen Jintai: “What product?”

Li Meilan looked at his ass, smiled, and said: “Underwear.”

Shen Jintai: “…”

Li Meilan: “I don’t know if it was because of your poster but this underwear brand noticed you. Although they are not a big named brand, they have started to become more well-known in the past two years. The underwear my husband wears is their brand. The quality is good, and the price isn’t expensive. I especially like the ice silk* ones…”

*Ice silk = Ice silk is the trade name of a chemical fiber, which is precisely a denatured Poly viscose fiber. It has the characteristics of smooth, cool, breathable, antistatic, anti-ultraviolet, and beautiful colors. Ice silk is also called rayon, viscose, viscose filament, nylon and so on. Googling ice silk underwear gave me some very (hot) NSFW pictures.

“Stop,” Shen Jintai said: “You can send the brand information to my phone and let me take a look.”

When Li Meilan heard his response, she immediately pulled out the information of the underwear company from her phone: “The adulterer sees fornication, and the wise man sees the wisdom*. Don’t hesitate when you hear that it’s an endorsement for underwear. Even Yang Lizhi also endorses underwear and sanitary napkins. There is nothing to be ashamed of. Everyone needs something.”

*Translation help: the adulterer sees fornication, and the wise man sees wisdom (淫者见淫，智者见智) = not sure the meaning behind this.

Shen Jintai: “What about the endorsement fees?”

“It’s negotiable,” Li Meilan said: “Don’t worry. It’ll be at least this number.” Li Meilan stretched out her fingers and gestured, and Shen Jintai breathed a sigh of relief, feeling he should consider it. After all, he was a young actor who has never seen the world before, and the idea of being a spokesperson excited him.

The name Shen Jintai had too much black history that he’ll probably be ignored by those high-end luxury brands. Fortunately, he didn’t care about this. Endorsements are used to make money and having money solves the problems of clothing, food, housing, and survival. With enough, he didn’t need to be picky with film remuneration in the future. If he encountered a good film, he could just act in it without charging a fee.

<The East Palace is Coming> filming would last more than half a year. He had no other acting gigs lined up while he’s involved in the filming. Within these past six months, if another job comes that pays well and does not delay his time, he’ll also take it.

After looking at the brand, he found that a few big stars were among their spokespeople.

It’s not a pheasant brand*.

*Pheasant brand (野鸡牌) = I think this is referring to cheap knock off brands.

Currently, the male star with the most endorsements in the entertainment industry was Bai Qingquan. He has a bunch of high-luxury endorsements. The T-shirts and slippers he usually wears are all famous brands making him look noble and clean. A pile of luxury goods adorned on his body would make him look more stellar.

It’s really enviable. Bai Qingquan’s image was also too good. He’s the only one in the entertainment industry without any black spots.

—

Bai Qingquan had received more scripts.

“They can all wait for your schedule,” Wei Ge handed over the scripts to him: “You are fine to take a look.”

Bai Qingquan: “Are there still no movies?”

Wei Ge: “There were but they were all small indie projects, so I passed them. For your first movie, it’s safer to go with a reliable production team.”

Wei Ge was a very powerful agent, and Bai Qingquan’s path was very clear. He wanted to enter the big screen. However, it’s particularly difficult for a traffic idol to enter the film industry. Directors in the mainstream circle tend to look down on idols and fresh meat while the big director’s cake are snatched up by the few popular male actors in the industry.

Bai Qingquan was not suitable for bearing such a heavy responsibility*. If the movie bombs, it will have a great impact on his film career. The most suitable thing is to be the second male lead in a big production. He won’t need to bear the pressure of the box office. In case the box office is hot, he could just lie down and receive the benefits.

*Carry the beam (扛大梁) = idiom referring to bearing a heavy responsibility. I used the translated meaning to make it flow better.

For example, so-and-so, who had acted as the role of second or third male lead in several blockbusters. He had good luck, and those films exploded one after another. Now with their numbers released, he’s considered a 10 billion star*.

*10 billion star = refers to movies he stars in breaking box office records (10 billion yuan). I’m not sure if it’s a cumulative count or just each individual release.

Bai Qingquan: “If there are good talents for a small production, it’s not like it’s impossible to try it.” Actors wanted to be on the big screen and Bai Qingquan was no exception.

Wei Ge: “Then I’ll look for you. Recently, there’s a play directed by a newcomer that is ready to be filmed. It’s called <Spring Night Happy Rain>. The director had also won an award for his last film. I asked the company to help you fight for it.”

The name was quite artistic, it should be a literary film.

After a few days passed, Bai Qingquan asked him the result of his struggle, and Wei Ge said: “This cake is not suitable for you.”

Bai Qingquan: “Why?”

Wei Ge: “It’s about two gay men. Male no. 1 is a married man who’s an adulterer. Male no. 2 is even worse, he’s a junior*.”

*Junior = I’m assuming this means he’s underage of what’s considered an adult.

……Fuck. It really doesn’t suit him. But it does sound exciting. He really wanted to see it. The scale of literary and artistic films must be particularly large.

The car stopped in front of the TV station building, and Wei Ge glanced out: “There are so many people here again.” He put on sunglasses and got out of the car to protect Bai Qingquan. Bai Qingquan gave a pleasant smile, waved to the squatting fans, bowed humbly, and entered the hall amidst the screams of the fans.

He came to participate in the opening ceremony of <The East Palace is Coming>. It was about to start its broadcast.

As soon as he entered the hall, he heard a scream from behind. There weren’t many people around, so the voice was particularly loud. He glanced back and saw Shen Jintai.

Shen Jintai put his sunglasses in his chest pocket, smiled, and bowed and waved to the fans.

“Shen Jintai, Shen Jintai!” It was from a fat girl shouting with the gold powders.

Shen Jintai was really rejuvenated. Bai Qingquan suddenly remembered that when he and Shen Jintai were walking together two years ago, there were hordes of gold powder that were holding yellow light signs. As they converged it looked like a golden ocean was surging with the tides.

The moonlight powder could have been golden but when the draft was first held, the battle for supporting colors was still lost to the gold powder so they had to choose white.

White was also pleasing to the eyes, but it wasn’t as dazzling as gold. Just like him, while beautiful and popular, he could not be as dazzling as Shen Jintai.

That is the fate of gold and silver.

The author has something to say：

When I named the name, I really didn’t think about it so much. The more I wrote, the more I discovered Shen Jintai and Bai Qingquan*. It was really wonderful, Hahahaha.

*Clairty: Author is referring to the Jin [gold] (金) and Bai [white] (白) in their names. Their CP becomes Platinum [BaiJin] (白金).

The prince will come out in the next chapter.

Kinky Thoughts: *Me googling ice silk*… … … *Feels nosebleed coming*. That was quite a distraction from translating.

Bai Qingquan has a little bit of narcissism in him.