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Chapter 66: You Chase Me I Chase Him
The official blog of <The East Palace is Coming> posted Bai Qingquan’s exit photo a 9:00 PM last night. A group of moonlight powders ran over to blow rainbow fart.
“Brother’s beauty is prosperous!”
“Congratulations to His Majesty the Emperor!”
“Goodbye Zhou Jing, waiting for Qiao Yan!”
Qiao Yan was the name of the male lead of Bai Qingquan’s next sweet pet idol drama. Soon a passerby noticed that a familiar face appeared in Bai Qingquan’s exit photos. Zheng Siqi’s fans confirmed it was the actor of prince Zhou Ying, Zheng Siqi, by stripping the silk and cocooning*.
*Stripping silk and cocooning (剥丝抽茧) = refers to making a painstakingly investigation.
“Oh my God, is it really Zheng Siqi?”
“It is rumored from the outside world that prince Zhou Ying is not dead, and the ending has been changed. It seems to be true!”
“Today is also the day when Jintai Qiongying girls shed tears! Humbly ask for a HE!”
“I think Li Xu is really miserable. Aren’t the screenwriter’s conscience hurting?!”
“I haven’t watched it for a month. I caught up recently with the last few episodes and it angered me to death. What the hell does He Lanbi, that bitch, want to do! Why does she want to abuse us! Li Xu is so pitiful!”
Yang Lizhi felt that this was her most unwise decision to take on this drama. Her role as the heroine should have been straightforward. Near the end should be her moment to shine featuring her counterattacks, but instead the audience was scolding her.
Ahhhhhhhhh! She felt wronged!
When Yang Lizhi debuted, she was an instant hit. She was rank first in Xiao Huadan for so many years. Her fans weren’t vegetarians. They had long disliked Shen Jintai.
Shen Jintai’s acting was… okay. His fans were so hateful though. They scolded He Lanbi on the internet daily…. Although it hasn’t risen to targeting her actual self, it was still a bit irrational. She couldn’t stand the constant scolding of her role every day!
Eventually one of her big fans from her fan group contacted the moonlight powder. Both fandom couldn’t help but sighed. They both thought Shen Jintai was insignificant when the filming first started, thus plum powder and moonlight powder fought against each other, afraid that the other would hype their own cooking.
Plum powder felt that whoever moonlight powder target, to them was viewed like a mad dog. Moonlight powder on the other hand felt that plum powder were all brainless xxj*, but their combat effectiveness was bursting.
*Translation help: not sure what xxj stands for. Was originally written in English.
As a result, Cheng Yaojin was killed halfway*. The explosiveness of The East Palace was hogged by Shen Jintai.
*Cheng Yaojin = Chinese general. He’s often depicted in Chinese folklore as a somewhat inept and bumbling warrior who sometimes show up at the right time and place to save the day.
*Cheng Yaojin was killed halfway (半路杀出个程咬金) = idiom referring to caught off guard/something unexpected happened.
The two fandom had interacted frequently in the past few months and decided to join forces to fight against the gold powder not long ago. Unfortunately, Shen Jintai had not only his fans but passersby who defended him.
Surprisingly, when plum powder contacted moonlight powder this time around, moonlight powder remained collectively silent. They said they only wanted to praise their beauty and didn’t want to tear anymore.
Excuse me?! Is this still the invincible moonlight powder that’s known for their tearing?!
The moonlight powder had been in a delicate mood recently. The official blog of <The East Palace is Coming> posted a behind-the-scenes footage during New Year’s of Bai Qingquan exit after his character was killed off. There was a shot of him and Shen Jintai hugging each other.
Even the president of the official support association of moonlight powders has recently spoken subtly, faintly pointing out that the relationship between the two was different from the past. Shen Jintai was truly reborn with his recent comeback. The moonlight powders all saw it with their very own eyes. Still, there was no way to eliminate the hostility they had for so many years. Though they didn’t speak words of praise for him, many had already secretly poked him.
Moreover, moonlight powder found that the popularity of <The East Palace is Coming> was not completely absorb by Shen Jintai. On the 30th of December, Bai Qingquan announced his promotion for a well-known skin care brand that attracted many passersby. It firmly occupied the number one spot on the hot search that day. Though there were much news of Shen Jintai, he did not reach the top.
Plum powder felt that if the two of them join forces, it would be beneficial to both parties. They wanted to use moonlight powder as a knife and though the idea of ingenious! Shockingly, moonlight powder had refused to cooperate now.
—
The car came to a stopped. Shen Jintai sat in it as he glanced at the villa. It’s been a long time since he had returned to his home.
As soon as he got out of the car, he saw a little girl running over: “Brother!”
Shen Jintai squatted down, and a little girl in a pink down jacket rushed into his arms. He became a little shy as he said: “You came to greet me?”
“She got up early to wait for you. She’s been waiting behind the door all morning.” Liu Qi walked out with a smile.
Xiao Tang helped him unloaded all the things he had brought from the trunk. Liu Qi enthusiastically accepted some and said, “Why did you buy so many things when you’re coming back to your own home?”
Shen Jintai picked up Shen Xiaomei and saw a middle-aged man in his forties standing at the door with a fair face and jet-black hair. He had a shallow furrow between his eyebrows making him look stern.
Shen Jintai held himself back and didn’t call him “dad”. Instead he only nodded at Shen Ruhai.
Shen Ruhai said: “You’re back.”
Shen Jintai: “Nn.”
After Xiao Tang carried the things in, he left. Shen Jintai carried Shen Xiaomei into the house. Shen Xiaomei had missed him a lot. She hugged his neck and pressed her face against it as she remained silent. Such a well-behaved little girl made Shen Jintai’s heart softened instantly.
Perhaps it was due to their relations by blood, but he felt closer to her than with other children.
“Your so old now. Don’t cling to your brother all day. Come down quickly.” Liu Qi lightly chided.
“It’s okay.” Shen Jintai chuckled as he continued to carry Shen Xiaomei into the house.
The house was wholly different from when he left it. There were many more items now and there was a trivial atmosphere of life everywhere. As Liu Qi closed the door she said: “I didn’t invite a maid to clean up. I did it myself so it’s still a bit messy.”
The Shen family used to be wealthy. The skinny camels were still bigger than horses. They still had a lot of assets so it wouldn’t have been a problem to hire a maid. There must have been an underlying reason they didn’t hire someone. Shen Jintai wasn’t sure if it was related to him. When he looked at Shen Ruhai, he got a sense that he was very traditional old-fashion prideful man.
Shen Jintai and the couple were unfamiliar with each other. They didn’t know what to talk about. Liu Qi tried to find something in common and started to talk about <The East Palace is Coming>: “Recently, relatives and friends are all watching it. They praise you for your good performance.”
At the end, she added: “Your dad is watching too.”
Shen Jintai smiled and thought to himself that thankfully there was a child here. Otherwise, it would be embarrassing listening to her praises.
He was playing with Shen Xiaomei as they watch cartoons together. Liu Qi was busy cooking and Shen Ruhai was holed up in the study. He only came down during dinner. Shen Jintai felt as if Shen Ruhai wanted to talk to him but didn’t know what to stay. He often had an eager look on his face, signaling as if he wanted to chat, but he ate silently. When his phone rang, he went out to take the call.
Liu Qi said to Shen Jintai: “If you are free in the future, come back and visit. Your dad actually misses you. He originally thought that you entered the entertainment industry to… to play. Recently, he’s been chasing The East Palace. Hearing relatives and friends praise you, he couldn’t help but feel proud. Don’t mind him, he’s just like this and doesn’t speak much. He’s been under a lot of pressure recently that his hair had turned gray. When he heard you were coming to visit, he went out and dyed it.”
Shen Jintai was speechless, so he simply nodded. Hearing this poked his feelings and made him a bit sad.
Liu Qi smiled and said to Shen Xiaomei: “Alright, get down. Your brother is leaving.”
Shen Xiaomei hugged Shen Jintai’s neck: “I don’t want brother to go.”
“Why don’t you stay for New Year’s?” Liu Qi said with a smile.
“Auntie Fang has sent a car to pick me up.” Shen Jintai said softly.
Not spending New Year’s with one own’s family but instead at someone else’s home was a bit inappropriate to talk about. Mrs. Yan was thoughtful and made a few phone calls to urge him without directly stating her intention and thus a car was sent over to pick him up.
Shen Xiaomei wailed sadly. Her sincere affection moved Shen Jintai.
When Shen Jintai had just left, Shen Ruhai came back carrying some fruit. Liu Qi said: “When you heard Jintai was visiting didn’t you buy lots of fruit? Now you bought more again.”
Shen Ruhai glanced into the living room and asked: “Gone?”
Liu Qi let out a “Nn” and said: “The Yan family came to pick him up.”
Shen Ruhai didn’t respond. He took off his shoes silently.
“He’s never celebrated New Year’s with us before.” Liu Qi said as Shen Ruhai went downstairs to coax Shen Xiaomei, who had been crying in the room.
*Clarity: just want to point out that my suspicion, and it was also hinted, why didn’t they didn’t hire household staff for help is mainly due to it affecting Shen Jintai’s reputation. He’s now a big and rising star and if rumors get out about his current family’s condition, it may affect his reputation. Seeing the way Shen Ruhai acts, it seems like he really does love his son, just have a hard time showing it and this was one of the ways he can do it. (You know the stereotypical old-fashion dads who’s more about actions speak louder than words type.)
—
Shen Jintai thought that during New Year’s the Yan family would all be relaxing at home. When he got there, he learned that most of the members were still busy.
Mrs. Yan: “This is the busiest time of the year. There are social dinners everywhere. Your uncle Yan couldn’t stay home even on the 31st*.”
*Originally 30th… I’ve changed it because it doesn’t make sense given the rest of this chapter’s context. See my translator’s note further down.
All of the household staff had gone back to their homes to celebrate New Year’s. On the evening of the 31st, it was only them two. Mrs. Yan and Shen Jintai wrapped dumplings together. After eating, they watched TV for a while then went to bed.
Shen Jintai had been extremely tired these days. It was rare for him to have a vacation, so he wanted to catch up on his sleep. After taking a shower, he laid down on the bed intending to sleep but messages and calls kept coming in. It was warm New Year’s wishes from various acquaintances. Some he was familiar with and others he wasn’t.
Being popular has its own problems. Shen Jintai realized that he couldn’t just receive New Year’s greetings. He also had to send them himself . For those he wasn’t familiar with, he would use a mass distribution. For those he was better acquainted, he would personally write his own greetings. For Bai Qingquan’s he was especially attentive.
Shen Jintai pondered what his little 0 beauty was doing. With so many things going on since yesterday, he was so preoccupied that the sadness of their parting had been diluted. Lying on the bed now, he realized that yesterday was Bia Qingquan’s exit.
With their busy schedule, there wouldn’t be many opportunities for them to meet again. Bai Qingquan’s favorability of him has risen a lot but hasn’t reach the stage of love yet. He got headache contemplating on how he could further develop these feelings in the future.
As he was lost in his thoughts, he received a text from Bai Qingquan replying back to his message: [This isn’t a mass message from you is it?]
Shen Jintai replied: [The conscience of heaven and earth*, it was written word by word.]
*Conscience of heaven and earth (天地良心) = idiom referring to having a clean conscience and uprightness.
Bai Qingquan suddenly called him.
Shen Jintai let out a light cough and connected the call: “Aren’t you watching the Spring Festival Gala* at this time?”
*Spring Festival Gala = TV show on the evening of Lunar New Year’s Eve featuring variety of acts and performances.
*Clarity: As mentioned before, the author keeps referring to this as “Spring Festival/Lunar New Year”, but the time does not match actual Chinese New Year. This is the end of December going into January 1st so actual New Year’s on the Gregorian calendar. Chinese New Year is usually a little after this (late January – early February).
“I just retuned from out of town and haven’t even eaten dinner yet for New Year’s Eve. I’m accompanying my mother to a Guandi temple* to burn incense early tomorrow morning. Now I don’t want to do anything except sleep.” Bai Qingquan’s voice sounded tired, but he spoke quickly: “How about you? It sounds peaceful over there.”
*Guandi temple (关帝庙) = also known as Guan Yu temple that honors the general Guan Yu of Shu Han in the Three Kingdoms period. Guan Yu encompasses loyalty, righteousness, faith, wisdom, benevolence, and courage that reflects the ethics, morals, and ideals of traditional Chinese culture.
Shen Jintai: “Me too. I’m laying down now and all I want to do is just sleep.”
Bai Qingquan: “The crew is resuming work the day after tomorrow. Do you have any scenes? If you have time, while you still haven’t rejoined the crew, lets meet for dinner.”
“Ok.” Shen Jintai became excited.
Bai Qingquan added: “Then I will also call Zheng Siqi.”
A knocking noise sounded outside. Shen Jintai sat up from the bed and glanced at the door. Bai Qingquan said: “Then I’ll hang up now. I wish you a Happy New Year* in advance.”
*Clarity: I’m not sure what’s going but the author mentioned that it’s the 30th right now so it’s not even New Year’s eve yet, but she also keeps referring to New Years as Chinese New Years so the 30th could plausibly be NYE… except it’s still December! At this point I’m just assuming that Chinese New Years and actual New Year’s are one in the same in this world setting, but it still doesn’t make any sense because December has 31 days!! You’re killing me here author! The point is… this day is New Year’s Eve and we’ll leave it at that.
Shen Jintai: “Happy New Year.”
After hanging up, Shen Jintai shouted out: “Come in.”
The door of the room was pushed open, and Yan Yaoxuan was standing outside. He asked: “You’re not staying up to wait for New Year’s?”
“Not waiting. I want to sleep.” Shen Jintai answered with a smile.
Yan Yaoxuan let out a “Nn” and said: “Then have a good rest.” After speaking, he closed the door.
Shen Jintai let out a sigh of relief and laid down. Only the bedside lamp was on. He couldn’t fall asleep, so he started looking at The East Palace. While drowsy, he was suddenly awakened by the vague sound of firecrackers outside. He opened his eyes and saw that his phone was still playing the drama. The time on the upper right corner showed that New Year’s had arrived.
A beam of light hit the window. He sat up with a blanket in his arms, leaned over and looked down from the window. He saw a black Bentley slowly parking in the yard. Yan Qiuchi got out of the car, and wondering if Shen Jintai was aware of his return, glanced up.
When Shen Jintai saw that Yan Qiuchi caught sight of him, he opened the window magnanimously, hanged his body on the windowsill, smiled and said: “Happy New Year.”
Shen Jintai was dressed in pajamas that looked smooth and soft. This gave his body a look of warmness that accentuated his bright smile. His voice was slightly coarse and lazy.
Yan Qiuchi kept his gaze as he responded: “Happy New Year.”
The tree branches were depressed in winter. As soon as the wind blew, the last withered leaf fell from its force. Yan Yaoxuan followed the voices from outside. He didn’t see Shen Jintai but only heard his voice. Casting his gaze towards the stairs, he saw his older brother standing at the bottom of the steps. His expression looked dull but his eyes were full of stars.
Everyone slept quietly in the winter, but both the Yan brothers had insomnia. When Yan Qiuchi woke up the next day, he had a pillow in his arms.
—
The latest episode of <The East Palace is Coming> was broadcasted on the second day of the new year. The drama had been building a tremendous amount of momentum in the past few months that right after the Spring Festival, its rating broke past 5.
It was the hottest drama of the new year so much so that if you don’t watch it, you had nothing to talk about with your friends and family.
The topic “The East Palace rescues single men and women” quickly reached the hot search. Usually during New Year’s, the hot search would be “Do you have someone to spend New Years with?”. Now it had changed to “Have you seen The East palace yet?”.
Throughout the New Year’s break, the two satellite stations broadcasted <The East Palace is Coming> in cycles all day. The preview for next week’s trailer had more cuts than usual. Some of cuts had included scenes from the week after the next. The most exciting scene was Li Xu, who was at the peak of his power, wearing a red mink robe, sitting on a chariot as he brave the heavy snow.
All the eunuchs and palace attendants he passed by on the road knelt and bowed to him. However, his face retained a look of indifference and grandiose, as he rubbed the jade pendant around his waist.
The author has something to say:
When adding more becomes a habit…
Kinky Thoughts: This is starting to become some kind of dog (Yan Qiuchi), cat (Shen Jintai), and mouse (Bai Qingquan) chasing game.
All I gotta say to the last scene with Li Xu sitting in the chariot… Yassss~~ work bitch! *snaps fingers*
Rant corner: Also this whole New Year’s thing gave me a freaking headache. It was bad enough that I couldn’t figure out whether it was regular New Year’s or Chinese New Year’s but then she had to throw the 30th date but mentioned it was December. Like WTF author!!! Please stop making my translating life miserable…