Chapter 51

Tang Ruanqing flipped through the reports about Sky Crown Entertainment’s artists in recent days. He paused when he flipped to a certain entertainment newspaper.

On the big page, Xiao Qishen was holding a big bouquet of yellow roses and handing it to the smiling young man. The image of the two of them together was very eye-catching, even if it was just an ordinary newspaper picture.

Closing the newspaper in his hands, he dialed his intercom. “Get someone to pack up all the entertainment magazines and newspapers on the table.”

Tang Ruanqing’s assistant, Zhang Feng, hung up the phone and thought, it would be better to let the logistics department handle this kind of thing. He had just made the arrangements, when he saw Lu Fan walking his way.

In two days, it was going to be the fourth anniversary of Emperor Jing’s memorial. Everyone in the company was busy because of this event. Was it possible that a big agent like Lu Fan had nothing to do because his artists were incompetent?

“Is the president here?” Lu Fan nodded towards his desk.

“Yes,” Zhang Feng said, as he typed on his keyboard, “but Mr. Tang might not be in a good mood today. So you should be careful.”

Lu Fan raised his eyebrows. “Not in a good mood?” The foot that had already taken a step, retracted. No one else may understand, but he knew that Jing Anjue was the opposite of Tang Ruanqing. While he wanted to discuss about the memorial party, he thought about it and dismissed the intention of going in now.

“What’s going on?” When he saw that Lu Fan had no intention of going in, Zhang Feng looked up suspiciously. “Did something happen?” He remembered that even though Lu Fan was bringing in a newcomer at this time, he was still very experienced. What was he struggling for?

“Nothing, but this memorial party has a lot of artists from outside the company who want to participate. I don’t know what the chairman wants, so the banquet list has not been finalized yet.” Lu Fan did not know Tang Ruanqing’s intention, so he and Xie Xun also dared not make any decisions without authorization.

Zhang Feng was silent. Although he had only been in the company for two years, he also knew that his boss was a bit perplexed with matters concerning Jing Anjue. He stopped typing. “Why don’t we talk about it another time.”

“But the party is two days away. If we’re hosting artists from other companies for the banquet, we should at least give each other some room to work with.” Lu Fan felt his head ace, and rubbed his forehead. “Forget it, I’ll go in and talk to him.”

Zhang Feng watched Lu Fan almost enter the president’s office with the confident stance of a warrior. He rubbed his nose and continued browsing his web pages.

“One, two, three, four…” While moving through the standard movements, the dance teacher carefully observed the students for any errors.

“Okay good. Everyone, take a break,” said the dance teacher, gasping for breath as he left the room.

Shan Yatong leaned against the handrail on the wall of the dance room, panting slightly. He didn’t expect the guests for Xiao Qishen’s concert to have to dance such a HIGH dance. He really didn’t understand what Xiao Qishen was thinking. He organized such a wonderful arrangement for Shan Yatong, and wasn’t even worried about him stealing his thunder. Or was he simply not threatened by Shan Yatong?

“Tired?” A clean white towel was handed to Shan Yatong.

“Thank you.” Shan Yatong wasn’t too courteous, and took the towel to wipe the sweat from his face. “What is Xiao-ge doing here?”

Xiao Qishen gazed at his reddened cheeks, and the collarbones exposed by his wide T-shirt collar. He coughed dryly and looked away. “I was passing by, so I came to take a look. You danced very well.” Then he handed over a bottle of water.

Shan Yatong took the water and thanked him. He wondered, passing by with all these things? He twisted the cap off, and took a sip of water. He drank till his parched throat felt better, before he spoke again. “Tomorrow night will be your first concert. I’m worried that I’ll make a mistake with this dance. It’s safer to practice more.”

Xiao Qishen smiled. “If you’re worried, how about dancing with me once right now?”

Shan Yatong thought about it. He set down the water bottle from his hand, and nodded.

Xiao Qishen took off his coat. Although he was only wearing a white T-shirt, it still vaguely revealed an envious body.

The entire room had mirrors on all sides so that dancers could see any irregularities in their movements. Xiao Qishen looked through the mirror at the slightly slimmer young man standing beside him. He gestured to the sound engineer standing to the side, and a Hip Hop song from his album started playing through the speakers.

The two men moved at the same time, raising their hands, bending over, turning their heads to the side, spinning around.

The other artists all stood up around them. Everyone knew that Xiao Qishen was very proficient in dance. He had powerful and dynamic movements, easily riling up the audience. But no one expected Shan Yatong to keep up with him. The two of them danced together in perfect harmony like they had worked together for years.

When the music stopped, there was a loud applause. Shan Yatong wiped the sweat off his forehead. He stooped to pick up his water bottle from the ground and took a sip, watching the people around praise Xiao Qishen’s dance. He didn’t mind. The circle had always been like this. Xiao Qishen’s status was clear here, it would be foolish for those people to praise another person’s dance skill in front of Xiao Qishen.

“Yatong is a good dancer too,” the voice was soft and gentle, nothing unusual among the compliments, but everyone around heard her sentence.

The atmosphere faltered for a moment, but soon resumed with the previous buzz. No one echoed her statement.

Shan Yatong followed the voice, and saw it came from a sweet looking girl. She was a newcomer recently signed by Sky Crown Corporation. The girl was indignant when she saw that no one backed her up.

The corners of his mouth lifted into a smile. Shan Yatong walked into the crowd and patted the girl on the head. “Are you a new artist?”

The girl nodded, an excited smile surfacing on her face. “Yatong-ge, my name is Yuan Wei. You’re my second favourite artist.”

“Second?” Shan Yatong’s eyes were warm. “Is your most favourite Jing Anjue?”

“Yes, yes,” Yuan Wei’s eyes widened in surprise. “Yatong-ge is amazing, you could guess that?”

Shan Yatong smiled without answering. He didn’t expect this little girl who had followed him back in the orphanage in his previous life to be so old already. Time really was surprising.

Xiao Qishen narrowed his eyes. He sized up the girl who had pulled a gentle smile from Shan Yatong. Only seventeen or eighteen years old, and seemingly sweet and cute. Not much could be seen of her figure, and she looked like a loli. He really didn’t know why Shan Yatong was giving her special treatment. Was it because she praised his dancing?

“Take your training time seriously.” Shan Yatong beckoned a staff from the side to bring a pen and paper. He wrote down his phone number and placed it in Yuan Wei’s hand. “This is my phone number. Remember to contact me if anything happens.”

This stupid girl’s actions were somewhat out of line just now. Most of the people around here were newcomers. Although they weren’t as good as the senior artists at Heavenly Crown, in the eyes of these newcomers there was still some intimidating pressure. He had said he would protect her, so he hoped that these newcomers wouldn’t dare bully her.

“Ah, by the way, my number should be kept a secret.” Shan Yatong smiled. But those present understood what he meant. They had better not ask Yuan Wei for his phone number.

Yuan Wei took his phone number, dumbfounded. She didn’t react until Shan Yatong and Xiao Qishen had left. Looking around at the jealous and envious eyes, she smiled and lowered her eyes. Yatong-ge really was so gentle.

Leading Shan Yatong into the elevator, Xiao Qishen pressed the floor and asked with a smile, “Do you like that newcomer?”

Shan Yatong leaned against the wall and straightened his cuffs. “She came from an orphanage like me.”

Xiao Qishen’s worries suddenly disappeared. Looking at the handsome young man in front of him, he patted his shoulder. “You don’t have to worry, I will take care of her as well.”

Shan Yatong moved a little, hiding the doubt in his heart. What did this have anything to do with him?

The elevator display showed the 13th floor, and the door slid open. Shan Yatong followed Xiao Qishen out of the elevator. What had Xiao Qishen brought him up here for?

The 13th floor is a place for Sky Crown Corporation’s artists and staff to relax. There were some games in the facility, and a large refreshment lounge where soothing light music is played. Occasionally one of their artists will sing a few songs when they feel like it. It is one of the people-oriented facilities at Sky Crown.

As artists, most of them are under a lot of pressure. Not to mention the fact that Sky Crown Corporation was one of the largest entertainment companies in China, the pressure was unbelievable. That’s why artists will often come to the 13th floor to rest for a moment, to refresh their frame of mind.

When he walked into the tea room, he saw Tang Ruanqing, Lu Fan, a man in a black suit and a woman with a bun sitting on the sofa. Because their back was facing the direction he came in from, Shan Yatong couldn’t see the face of these people.

Lu Fan sighed with relief when he saw Xiao Qishen and Shan Yatong. He was busy waving to the two of them, already losing his usual refined and polite image.

Xiao Qishen took Shan Yatong to sit down on a double sofa on the other side. Before he could start ordering drinks, Tang Ruanqing turned to the waiter on the side and said, “One coffee, one black tea.”

Shan Yatong looked up at Tang Ruanqing and smiled. “I’ve been using my throat more recently, so it would be better to just give me a glass of water.”

Tang Ruanqing nodded, the smile on his face remained the same. Only his eyes dimmed slightly.

“Ge, why are you here?” Xiao Qishen’s words drew Shan Yatong’s attention to the man sitting to Xiao Qishen’s right hand side. He was wearing gold-rimmed glasses. He had thin lips with no expression on his face. But the woman beside him looked back at him warmly.

Shan Yatong smiled and looked away without saying anything.

The waiter put the glass of water down in front of him. The water looked especially crystal-clear through the transparent glass.

“Thank you.” Shan Yatong nodded to the waitress and smiled softly. He bowed his head, missing the waitress’ slightly red cheeks.

Lu Fan pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. He remained silent in this quiet, almost eerie atmosphere.

“Yatong, let me introduce you. This is the president of the Xiao group, Xiao Chengyu.” Tang Ruanqing looked at Shan Yatong’s smiling cheeks and spoke in a gentle manner. “He is Zimo, or Qishen’s older brother. He came to discuss the endorsement of their company’s newest product.”

During the introduction, Tang Ruanqing’s gaze was fixed on Shan Yatong, as if he didn’t want to miss any reaction from him.

Edited by Kyou

B: sorry for the delays!! Recently got very busy with work but slowly getting back on track

Kyou: uni’s a time sucker 🙁