C1 Part6

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N – Chapter 1.5

N – Chapter 1.6

——An enjoyable night.

At 2am, Cao Ye flipped over and sat up, about to get off the bed, when Lin Huan asked, “Showering?” She was lying on the bed with her eyes closed.

Cao Ye replied with a ‘mn’.

“Young people truly have great physical strength,” Lin Huan languidly said. “You go and shower. Let me slowly recover, I don’t want to move at all.”

“What young people,” Cao Ye chuckled. “You’re only older than me by two years.”

“There’s a big difference in two years1.”

“Is there?” Cao Ye was suddenly a bit interested in the conversation, and he stopped moving off the bed. He twisted his head around to ask, “What’s the difference?”

“The difference, hm…” Lazily, Lin Huan shifted her face over and gazed at him with half-lidded eyes. “There’s no way to compare between the two of us since we’re not the same gender.”

“But you must’ve slept with someone your own age, right?”

“Hm… let me have a think. I really haven’t these last two years, but before, yes.”

“Who?” A name flashed across Cao Ye’s mind, and he spoke it out loud. “Liang Sizhe?”

Lin Huan gave him a smile and didn’t speak.

“Am I right?” Cao Ye moved closer to her and squeezed her chin. “You’ve slept with Liang Sizhe before?”

“Don’t be so heavy-handed.” Lin Huan turned her head over, trying to dodge away from his hand, and she said, smiling, “Weren’t you going to shower? Hurry up and go.”

“I’m asking you.” Cao Ye didn’t let go and pulled her chin back over. His brain twitched, and he spoke out the thought that had flashed over his mind. “Who’s better, Liang Sizhe or me?”

“Aiyah, what’s the point in you asking something like that. Don’t you feel childish?” Lin Huan slipped out of his hand, tugging up the blanket and hiding away her face.

“Tell me.” Cao Ye leaned forward to pull her blanket.

Lin Huan kept shrinking into it, unable to get away, and in the end, she had no choice but to say again and again, “You’re better, you’re better…”

Cao Ye tangled with her for a few minutes, but then he found it a bit boring again — and so he released her, turning back over to get off the bed.

His two feet had just touched the floor when Lin Huan peeped out from the blanket. Watching him, she blinked a few times and said, “Actually, Liang Sizhe’s slightly better than you.” And then she flew to hide back within the blanket.

“Fuck,” Cao Ye blurted out. “Are you serious?”

Within the blanket, Lin Huan muffled a laugh and said, “You should go shower.”

Cao Ye didn’t go tug at her blanket this time, only sitting on the edge of the bed and leaning over sideways to ask, “You’ve really slept with Liang Sizhe before?”

“What’s it to you,” Lin Huan said.

“I don’t believe you have.” Cao Ye then stood up from the bed, heading towards the bathroom while being slightly disgruntled.

As he rinsed himself off, Cao Ye thought his brain really must’ve short-circuited for a second just then.

Who’s better, Liang Sizhe or me?

How could he’ve asked such a question? Just by thinking that he and Liang Sizhe had slept with the same woman, he felt… suffocated? Disgusted? Nauseated?

None of those descriptions sounded right… How would Liang Sizhe be like in bed?

Fuck, wait. How did he end up thinking about that? Cao Ye hurriedly cleared his mind of that mental image. He truly had no interest in imagining how other men were like in bed.

But what Lin Huan had said about Liang Sizhe being slightly better — that couldn’t be true, right?

Forget it, why did he end up thinking about that again. What an endless circular thought… Cao Ye gloomily grabbed a towel and roughly dried himself.

When he came out of the bathroom, Lin Huan was still lying on the bed and looking as languorous as though she’d yet to recover any energy. She opened her eyes when she heard his footsteps coming closer, and she asked, “You’re leaving?”

“It’s already 2am,” Cao Ye said.

“You should stay overnight,” Lin Huan may have said, but she knew Cao Ye wouldn’t stay. He never slept over; he left as soon as they were finished, no exceptions.

“Better not, I’m not used to sleeping with someone next to me.” Cao Ye turned her down without even needing to think about it as expected, arcing over to pick up his pair of ripped jeans. “I won’t be able to fall asleep.”

“All right,” Lin Huan said, not trying all that hard to keep him. She started to talk about other things. “Were you guys having dinner with Liang Sizhe tonight because of A Choice into the Dark?”

“What else,” Cao Ye said.

“How’d it go? Is Liang Sizhe going to take it?”

“Hard to tell. Time to wait.”

“What about…” Lin Huan paused, openly staring at Cao Ye’s body. To be more precise, she was admiring his body. Honestly, that young body was a delight to the eyes, its muscles clear and defined with smooth, flowing lines and looking full of strength. She tentatively suggested, “What about me going over to help you persuade him?”

His jeans on, Cao Ye looked back at her with his upper body bare. “You could persuade him? I didn’t know the relationship between the two of you was so solid.”

“We’re the entertainment industry’s #1 Most Bittersweet CP,” Lin Huan laughed. “Did you think that was just a joke?”

“You wouldn’t really have slept with Liang Sizhe before, would you?” Cao Ye frowned.

“Have a guess.” Lin Huan looked at him, head tilted.

“Guess what. Don’t learn from Liang Sizhe,” Cao Ye said, and then he pulled his black hoodie over his head. A few seconds later, he added in a lowered voice, “You better not have. I feel nauseated just by thinking about it.”

“Thinking I learned ‘have a guess’ from Liang Sizhe just by me saying it… Hey, did you know,” Lin Huan suddenly had a burst of energy, “Liang Sizhe’s crossdressed before? After watching the film, people were even asking why Liang Sizhe looked so familiar while crossdressing. They kept wondering who he resembled. After thinking about it, someone smacked their head and said: he resembled Lin Huan!” Lin Huan couldn’t stop laughing. “I even specifically went to watch the film, and he really did look like me! Have you watched it?”

“No. Where’s the resemblance?” Cao Ye watched Lin Huan as he spoke.

“It’s hard to describe, but he really does look similar to me.” Lin Huan was still chuckling. “So funny.”

“Which film is this?”

“Red Man, Red Woman2. Your dad directed it, but you actually haven’t watched it?”

“Why must I have watched everything my dad’s done?” Cao Ye finished putting on all his clothes, and he picked up his cell phone next to the pillow. “I’m heading off.”

“You’re really leaving?” Lin Huan raised herself up slightly, calling out to him when he reached the door. “Hey, Cao Ye. Wait.”

“Is there something else?” Cao Ye lazily asked, holding onto the door handle. He didn’t turn back to look at her.

“Why did you keep asking me about my past with Liang Sizhe tonight? Are you jealous?” Lin Huan sat up on the bed, the blanket in front of her chest and her long, curly and chestnut-coloured hair tumbling down. She didn’t look like the siren in front of the cameras right now — instead, she looked rather pure and innocent. “If you don’t want me to see Liang Sizhe again, I’ll do my best to avoid him in the future.”

Cao Ye chuckled and turned around, a fairly nonchalant look on his face. “When have I ever cared about you doing things like that? It’s pretty nice to have a bit of independency. Besides, the two of you work in the film and television industry — how troublesome would it be to have to avoid someone.”

“But you being jealous means you like me.” Rather directly, Lin Huan said, “How about this, what do you think about us turning a bit more serious and giving the two of us a try?”

“Huan-jie.” The door was pulled open a small sliver, Cao Ye leaning against the doorframe. The corners of his mouth gradually curled up into a faint smile, and he looked careless and sloppy. “Do you know what you’re saying? You should sleep early. Be good.”

And then he lifted his feet and stepped out, closing the door on his way out without a single hint of hesitation.

A white pillow heavily, yet soundlessly, smashed into the back of the closed door — but Cao Ye knew nothing of it.

Cao Ye walked quickly and lightly; he wasn’t mentally burdened by the tiniest little bit by what Lin Huan had just said.

He believed Lin Huan understood very well right now that the relationship between them was now completely finished. That was the unspoken rule — a relationship such as theirs couldn’t contain even a trace of true feelings. No one needed to say that out loud.

If he really needed to describe what inner turmoil he was feeling, then Cao Ye would say he felt slightly annoyed. He was annoyed because now he needed to look for a new bed partner again. The process was honestly rather troublesome.

Lin Huan really was the ideal bed partner: great in bed, not much to worry over and not clingy. Other than the risk of being papped, there was nothing else that could possibly complicate matters.

Except it was already vexing enough to be papped. Cao Ye had been considering ending things just with the photograph of them half a month ago. He hated being troubled, hated complicating simple things.

Sex was part of a human’s basic instincts, so to need to evade around and avoid being seen — wasn’t that acting against humanity? Something that was willingly done by both parties was turned into almost as though they were committing adultery… With the prologue like that, it didn’t matter how passionate or exciting the main story was: it would still make people feel tired.

But then again, it wasn’t as if he couldn’t understand why Lin Huan was so cautious.

Their society held much harsher requirements towards actresses than actors. If Lin Huan truly acted the way Liang Sizhe did with a scandal every once in a while, her reputation would most likely suffer a disastrous decline.

Their audience enjoyed the wild fervour of discussing public figures, but those audience members didn’t like the person pushed to the very forefront of those discussions. Even Liang Sizhe was no exception when it came to this point.

–

The paparazzi truly didn’t manage to get any explosive news tonight.

Liang Sizhe drove straight to Yunchu Entertainment’s office entrance, and it was easy to see that he was here to talk about work with Xu Yunchu.

When he arrived at the office’s main door, Liang Sizhe reached up and pulled down his hoodie, lifting up his face for the facial recognition system. He stepped into the office once the door slowly opened, and he walked past the spacious reception area, turning into Xu Yunchu’s private office area at the very back. He raised his hand and knocked — dong dong dong.

“Enter.” A voice came through the door.

Liang Sizhe pushed open the door and went inside.

Xu Yunchu was sitting behind her desk, her face turned towards her computer. Her finger was scrolling the mouse wheel, and she looked like she was working on something, not even lifting her head when she heard the sound of the door opening.

“At the office as soon as you got off the plane?” Liang Sizhe walked to the front of her desk and then leaned over to look at the content on the computer screen. “Yunchu, you’re always so devoted to work.” He sat down onto a swivel chair as he spoke and settled backwards, crossing his two long legs into a relaxed position.

Only then did Xu Yunchu look at him. “According to my original plans, I should be soaking in the sun on a beach right now.”

Smiling, Liang Sizhe nodded. “I’m truly apologetic for disturbing your holiday plans. To be honest, this could’ve just been left to Xiao Song3 to handle — it really didn’t need you, President Xu, to personally come back.”

“That’s enough, Sizhe. Don’t fob me off with the matter of the media.” Xu Yunchu almost laughed in exasperation. “When have you ever truly felt apologetic to me?”

“You want to hear the truth?” Liang Sizhe raised an eyebrow, and after pondering for a moment, he looked up at her and said, “Hm… quite regularly.”

“I don’t believe you. Don’t look at me with that look in your eyes, it’s been so many years. Do you think I’m not immune to you yet?”

“Now that really hurts my heart.” Retracting his eyes, Liang Sizhe gave her a smile, got up and went towards the wine cabinet, pulling open the door. His fingers slid over bottles, and he said, “You came back in such a hurry, and yet you still remembered to bring alcohol…”

“Don’t change the conversation. Talk to me honestly, why do you want to accept A Choice into the Dark? The producers contacted me when Huang Qianshi first got into trouble, and I rejected them immediately then and there. I didn’t think they’d go around me two days later and contact you directly. Sizhe, do you know what that means?” As she gazed at Liang Sizhe’s back, Xu Yunchu said, “It means the entire industry knows very well of my incompetency.”

Liang Sizhe was holding a particular bottle, and he was just about to take it out when he paused, hearing her words. “How could that be?”

“That’s the reality. And besides, you actually did take up the offer.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t think about that.”

“No, no, no. You don’t need to be sorry to me. My incompetency isn’t the main issue — I just want to know why you decided to accept the film. From my manager’s point of view, there is no reason at all for you to take it. Let’s not even talk about all those words from outsiders about you picking up leftovers or being a substitute. First of all, as a reshoot, this means you’ll be constrained by what the film is like currently. A majority of your scenes will be you acting against either a green screen or a stand-in. Secondly, when Huang Qianshi first moved into the mainland, he bought so many articles to say he was going to seize your market. You announcing that you’ll take over his character just as he’s been imprisoned — what kind of impression do you think that’ll give people? They’ll think you really care about all that talk back then…”

Liang Sizhe had found a corkscrew on a nearby shelf, and he was using the knife to calmly pry open the wine bottle’s rubber cap, head lowered. He now opened his mouth and interrupted her, saying, “Why can’t I care?”

“Because you never cared before. Why must you fasten an unnecessary pot onto your head4? Also, the ‘debt repayment’ you said at the airport — what does that mean? Are you solely doing this to repay Cao Xiuyuan?”

“No.” Liang Sizhe poured the red wine into a tall wineglass. Sensing that Xu Yunchu was waiting for him to continue speaking, he placed the bottle of wine onto the table and frankly said, looking at her eyes, “All right. It’s for Cao Ye.”

“Oh, Cao Xiuyuan’s son.” Xu Yunchu wasn’t surprised. “So because Cao Xiuyuan noticed you and helped you, you’re planning on assisting all eighteen generations of his ancestors and descendants as long as they ask something of you?”

“All right, don’t be mad anymore. I truly didn’t think over it enough.” Liang Sizhe pushed the prepared glass of wine to her, bending over at the waist and supporting himself up with an arm on the table. Looking into her eyes, he soothingly said, “Finish this glass of wine, and then I’ll drive you home to rest. We’ll talk about it again once you’ve gotten over your jet lag.” His voice was low and deep, as though trying to worm its way into someone’s mind. He had his methods to deal with the press — for Xu Yunchu, he had other ways.

His tone of his voice was overly tender, and even if Xu Yunchu was immune to him, she couldn’t continue kicking up a fuss at this very moment. Propping up her elbows, she massaged her temples and said, “Sizhe, when can you stop being so impulsive?”

“This will be the last time.”

“How many hundreds of times have I heard you say that before?” Xu Yunchu asked, smiling wryly.

“If you really want to know, I’ll stay up late tonight and calculate it for you.”

“Such fake obedience,” Xu Yunchu said, head aching. She was quiet for a few seconds as though thinking of something, and then she helplessly shook her head a moment later — she lifted that glass of wine Liang Sizhe had prepared and tilted up her head, finishing it completely under Liang Sizhe’s gaze.

She couldn’t handle Liang Sizhe.

Everyone, both within and without the industry, was aware of this.

Translator has something to say:

The Chinese word used for ‘to differ/difference’ (差) can also mean ‘to be worse’. As in, someone is worse than you at something. That’s the insinuation in the upcoming conversation, and which is why CY brings up other men 🙂 ↩The film title of Red Man, Red Woman is 红男红女. The characters used for ‘red woman’ (红女) is also commonly used to refer to a working woman. ↩The ‘xiao’ (小) in this means ‘little’ and is a common diminutive of someone’s name. It’s a common way to refer to people who are younger than you. ↩‘Unnecessary pot’ refers to the common Chinese meaning of pot = blame/responsibility, AKA if a pot falls randomly onto your head, you’ve been given the blame and/or responsibility of something. That sentence is really asking if LSZ really wants to take on this unnecessary drama. ↩

N – Chapter 1.7

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