Chapter 12

When President Li called Shen Shujie, he was actually lying on his bed scrolling through Weibo. He had actually made very detailed plans for his break, that he was going to go through his script, and work on his acting skills. Now, he couldn’t say for sure if his acting skills had seen any improvement but his skills in bed had definitely upgraded, and he gingerly massaged his sore waist as he answered the phone, “President Li, you were looking for me?”

President Li hmmed on the other end, “Shujie, there’s a reality show opening, are you interested? You would be going with two of Hongtian’s newer people, the organizer is really keen on having you there, they even called me directly.”

If it wasn’t for the repeated invites from the organizer, President Li wouldn’t keep contacting Shen Shujie about it, so after a moment’s consideration Shen Shujie agreed to take it. After all he couldn’t cause President Li to lose face.

There were still another two months to his next project, Shen Shujie felt his legs about to give out at the thought of what his fate might be like if he didn’t find some work and spent every day at home. Luckily, one weekend wasn’t really too long, one it finished, he could still come back and continue spending time with Jiang Haofeng.

When Jiang Haofeng returned, Shen Shujie was busy packing his things, and with a look of confusion he asked, “You have work to do?”

”Mmm, I accepted a reality show project.”

The moment he heard this, Jiang Haofeng felt quite unhappy, “I thought you don’t do those type of programs .”

”President Li was the one who asked me to bring a few new people.”

”He’s forcing work onto you?” As he said this he was already reaching in his pocket for his phone.

Shen Shujie had initially been sitting on the bed, but when he saw Haofeng’s actions, he immediately got to his feet and pounced on him. This sudden jump onto Jiang Haofeng shocked him, and Haofeng scrambled to catch Shujie’s buttocks so he could wrap his legs around him. Like a koala bear, Shen Shujie clung onto Jiang Haofeng with a toothy grin as he added, “I’m the one who wants to try it out, plus if the company arranges work for me, I should go do it anyway.”

Holding him in his arms, Jiang Haofeng carried him all the way to the side of the bed. Somewhat in disagreement, he frowned and said, “If you go to work at this time, you’re taking up my time.”

Shen Shujie used both his hands to cup Haofeng’s face, smiling slightly as he pressed a kiss to his lips, “What time of yours is it that I’m taking up then?”

Jiang Haofeng seemed a little uneasy at this question, and instantly tried to switch the topic, “How long will it take?”

”It’s an outdoor one, so I’ll be back in two weeks.”

”Mmm.” As he said this, Haofeng began to slowly lower him.

However, Shen Shujie just clung to his body without moving, “Quick, tell me, what time is it of yours that I’m taking up?”

“……”

Jiang Haofeng’s expression got a little more forced as he stared at Shujie, “You know what I mean.”

”Whether or not I know what you mean in my heart is my business, but whether or not you tell me is your problem.”

“……”

Shen Shujie mulled over it for a moment before asking him, “Jiang Haofeng, do you think we’re in the first flush of our relationship right now?”

With an impossibly straight face, Young Master Jiang answered, “What do you mean first flush, we’ve been married for so long now.”

”Then, do you like me?”

”What do you think?”

”You’ve never said it before, so I don’t know.”

“……”

Shen Shujie had both arms around Haofeng’s neck as he delicately peppered the other with kisses, “I’m head over heels in love with you, but you’ve never ever said if you like me.”

”Silly, if I didn’t like you, would I marry you…”

”Hmm?” Shen Shujie seemed to catch something from his words, and out of sheer surprise he stared at Jiang Haofeng. Young Master Jiang had shut his mouth just in time, but he knew that Shen Shujie was clever enough to understand.

Shen Shujie didn’t continue asking, both his eyes were sparkling with moisture, as though he wanted to say something. Alas, there were many things that didn’t need to be said aloud but were obvious enough, so he merely gradually lowered his head onto the space between Jiang Haofeng’s neck and shoulder, quietly basking in the embrace they shared.

”Then… You must have liked me for a really long time ah.”

The reality program that Shen Shujie was joining was a program that had been recently gaining popularity in the past two years. It was about little fresh meats plus outdoor survival, there were no set characters in the show, everything was about real-life natural interactions. After joining the program, celebrities might end up with more fans or even more haters, but regardless of that, after the show their presence in the industry would definitely grow, after all, anti-fans were also people.

President Li had mentioned that he was to “lead” some newbies, but in reality, in this particular context, he himself was a complete newbie. This time, the two newbies who were joining the program with him were Xu Di and Zhang Luyao, who were recently up and coming celebrities with huge followings (key opinion leaders).

The two had just joined the company, and because of a recent popular drama, they earned instant fame overnight. In terms of experience, Shen Shujie was much more senior than the two of them, but if ranked according to popularity, Shen Shujie was probably quite far from their current status.

From their very first meeting, Shen Shujie instantly had their personalities down pat, he was usually quite clever, and knew how to read people well.

Xu Di was still quite young, yet he was already extremely conceited, when he met Shen Shujie, he had his chin up as he looked at him, and didn’t even bother to greet him.

Zhang Luyao was a little better, but he didn’t have the usual courtesy shown to seniors when he greeted Shujie, he merely introduced himself.

Shen Shujie pulled his own luggage as he walked at the very rear of their group. The fans at the airport were quite intimidating, and standing at the back, he took out his phone to snap a picture to send to Jiang Haofeng, “The newbies at our company, they have quite a following.”

Jiang Haofeng must have been busy doing something on his end, because it took a while before he replied, “Be careful, don’t get crushed.”

After boarding the plane, Shen Shujie sat down next to the two of them. Just as he was about to get out an eye mask so he could sleep, Xu Di turned to him and smiled. The smile was a little odd, it looked innocent enough yet it was somewhat of a taunt, “Elder Brother Shen, you’ve probably never seen so many fans for a send-off at the airport huh?”

Shen Shujie smiled as he nodded, “Yeah, it gave me quite the shock.”

Xu Di saw that he didn’t seem the least bit awkward about it, and his smile instantly disappeared, “I heard that Elder brother Shen has been with our company for quite a few years, but how come I’ve never seen any of the movies you’ve been in?”

”They’re all mainly supporting male roles or dragon set roles, my acting skills aren’t that good, not as good as you all at least.”

T/N: “dragon set roles”

Xu Di let out a scornful snort, and in a slightly challenging tone, “That’s right ah, some people are just born to eat from this sort of rice bowl, but for some people, no matter what you try, they can’t get popular.”

Shen Shujie didn’t know how he had managed to rile him up, but he was no pushover. With a meaningful smile, he looked at Xu Di, charitably nodding his head as he answered, “That’s true, I don’t have any other merits, I just look handsome, so I guess this truly is the Heaven’s way of blessing me with this way to eat.”

”You!” Xu Di’s face contorted into an expression of anger as he struggled to stand.

Zhang Luyao tugged at his sleeve, disapprovingly stopping him from going any further, “Don’t continue this.”

His appearance had always been a sore spot for Xu Di, and this was a publicly known thing. The reason why he had such a large following was largely due to the character he had played in the drama as well as his own personality. The character he had played was a somewhat dour traveling bard. There were no weaknesses with his model-like height and body ratio, but the lack of having exceptionally outstanding looks had always been his issue. However, this was no match for how special times are for specific individuals, so even though he looked quite ordinary, his popularity still covered half the skies.

Xu Di impatiently swatted away Zhang Luyao’s hand, softly muttering to himself, “Why do we have to bring a long an oil bottle? It’s obvious that the company failed to rear him, and now arranged for him to gain something out of our popularity.”

”Forget it, quit talking about it.”

Shen Shujie wasn’t bothered by what they were saying, he felt that even with Xu Di’s level of intelligence, to have been able to survive up till now in the entertainment industry, there must be more than could be seen by the naked eye. He didn’t have the habit of thinking badly about others, and he wouldn’t stoop to the level of those who did either.

When they arrived at the filming location it was already nighttime. The few of them first went to the hotel to rest up for the night, they would only start filming the next day.

After Shen Shujie washed up he called Jiang Haofeng, “What are you doing?”

”Work.”

Shen Shujie had a look at the time before answering, “It’s so late and you’re still doing work ah?”

”Mmm, there are a lot of things that need to be dealt with.”

”How come I never saw you this busy when I was at home?”

“……”

”Did you push them all back, just so you could spend time with me?”

As usual, Young Master Jiang was quite hard-lipped about this, “No.”

Pleased with himself, Shen Shujie laughed at Haofeng, “Even if you don’t tell me I know the truth.”

“……”