C2 Part2

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P – Chapter 2.1

P – Chapter 2.2

“Director Cao, we don’t much petrol left. The last rest stop is ahead, I’ll go get some more.” The driver’s voice pulled Liang Sizhe back to the current interior of the car.

“All right.” Cao Xiuyuan placed down the script in his hands and pulled out a box of cigarettes from his pocket. “We’ll rest for a few minutes while I go and have a smoke.”

“Of course,” the driver replied.

The car stopped at a motorway rest station, Cao Xiuyuan and Zheng Yin getting off for smokes. After staying in the car for the entire day, Liang Sizhe felt a bit stuffy, so he pulled open the car door and came out for some air, taking a trip to the bathroom as well.

He took a detour on his way back, estimating how long it would take for Cao Xiuyuan to finish his cigarette. He wanted to avoid any awkwardness at being face to face, so he arrived back at the car only when he thought Cao Xiuyuan would be close to finishing.

As expected, there was only a short section left of the cigarette in Cao Xiuyuan’s hand, and he was listening to Zheng Yin, inhaling and blowing out clouds of smoke. His face didn’t reveal his mood at all. But when Liang Sizhe walked over, that blunt, measuring gaze once again landed on Liang Sizhe’s body.

Zheng Yin very quickly realised Cao Xiuyuan’s eyes had shifted, and he too saw Liang Sizhe as soon as he turned his head. Zheng Yin had initially been saying something at rapid speed, but once he became aware that Liang Sizhe was nearby, he stopped talking.

They must’ve been discussing something that had to do with him, Liang Sizhe guessed.

Cao Xiuyuan finished his smoke; the few of them got back into the car.

“How much longer left?” Cao Xiuyuan asked.

“Roughly about an hour,” the driver said while driving.

“Drop me off at Ahena1.” Cao Xiuyuan then turned to look at Liang Sizhe and said the first thing he said to him since they’d gotten on the car. “Follow Zheng Yin later, he’ll prepare a place for you to live. The conditions aren’t great, but the environment will be pretty similar to the environment in the film. Get used to it first and experience how it feels to live there. I’ll have Zheng Yin notify you once there’s any news.”

“Okay,” Liang Sizhe responded, nodding.

“Then I’ll take him over to Yinsi Street,” Zheng Yin now said, turning around from the front.

“You can decide.” Cao Xiuyuan lowered his head back to the script, casually answering.

“Can I also bring Xiao Ye over?” Zheng Yin then asked.

“Do what you want,” Cao Xiuyuan said. After a while, he then added, “But that depends on whether he’s willing to go or not.”

“If he’s not willing, I’ll tie him up and drag him over.” Zheng Yin laughed as he said, “As long as you’re willing to let me do it.”

Cao Xiuyuan also chuckled. “If you have ideas to deal with him, then go ahead.”

“Of course I do.” Zheng Yin picked up his phone and waved it at Cao Xiuyuan. “Just you wait. I’m going to call him, and then he’s definitely going to follow me over.”

And then, he dialled a call in front of Cao Xiuyuan. Zheng Yin turned on the speakerphone, the outgoing call ringing.

A few seconds passed, and then the other side picked up. A boy’s voice came through the phone, sounding fairly young — there was a youthfulness to it. “Hello. What’s up, Uncle Yin?”

Cao Xiuyuan also lifted his head from the script once he heard the voice.

“Where are you?” Zheng Yin asked, pretending to be casual.

“I’m doing homework at home,” the boy said.

“So obedient? What homework are you doing?”

“Maths,” the boy smoothly answered. He spoke as earnestly as though he really was currently working on his homework. “I’m calculating the root of a number right now, and I’m really quite enjoying myself. If there’s nothing else, I’m going to hang up.”

“Hey, wait a minute.” Zheng Yin hurried to bring up the main reason why he called. “Xiao Ye, don’t go out. Wait for me at home, I’ll take you somewhere in a bit.”

“Where?” The boy’s voice sounded uninterested and bored, obviously reluctant to go out with him. “I’m busy with my calculations, don’t bother me!”

“I’m taking you to end your vegetarian diet2. You want to go or not?” Once he finished speaking, Zheng Yin threw Cao Xiuyuan a look, holding back a laugh.

“Are you serious?” The boy’s interest was clearly piqued. “Where we going?”

“You’ll know once we get there. It’s a nice place, get yourself nice and ready.”

“What nice place? I bet you’re lying to me.”

“I’m serious. If you don’t believe me, then don’t blame me later for not telling you to prepare yourself beforehand.”

“Ah? No, wait… Uncle Yin, uh, what do I need to prepare?”

Zheng Yin was finding it painful holding back his laugh, and he was about to lose it. He took a moment to calm down before opening his mouth again. “Take a shower. Dress yourself up nicely and cleanly. Oh yes — don’t bring any money, Uncle Yin will treat you. Just so you won’t be tricked by other people for your first time.”

“Ah? You’re really taking me to break my diet?!” Zheng Yin was talking quite seriously, and over the phone, the voice was a bit astonished.

“When has Uncle Yin ever lied to you?”

“Oh… Okay, then,” the boy rather dubiously said.

“Then I’ll hang up now.” Zheng Yin quickly hung up, and the moment the call ended, he exploded with a large burst of laughter. “Yuan-ge, did you hear? The kid normally can’t control his own mouth, but he’s actually still a young child.”

Cao Xiuyuan also laughed. “What nonsense do you talk to him about.” And yet there was no anger in his voice.

“This is called disguising yourself and infiltrating the enemy base. I’ll take away his money later, and just you watch, he won’t be able to go anywhere without money. He’ll stay obediently at Yinsi Street.”

Cao Xiuyuan wasn’t sure about that, and he shook his head, smiling as he said, “He has a bunch of cronies. Your plan might not work.”

“Don’t worry,” Zheng Yin said with a grin, “I still have a follow-up plan.”

The atmosphere in the car warmed up quite obviously because of that phone call.

Liang Sizhe understood — Zheng Yin was going to settle him down in a place, and a boy was going to live there with him. From their reactions and conversation, he guessed that the boy must be Cao Xiuyuan’s son.

The off-road car sped down the motorway and entered the city; the number of cars on the roads increased noticeably.

Through the car window, Liang Sizhe watched as the capital city flashed by. He’d been here before, and not just once — he’d come here with the school’s academic advisor to compete in violin competitions. They returned back to Yan City very quickly once the competition ended, and so he’d never been able to fully explore this city.

Maybe this time he’d have the chance to explore, he thought.

The driver stopped the car in front of a tranquil residential community, and Cao Xiuyuan got off.

Once the door was closed, Zheng Yin turned to say to the driver, “Let’s go, Lei-ge. We’re going to Yinsi Street. That place’s is a bit hard to find, so go ahead and drive to Anyuan Bridge3 first. I’ll direct you after.”

After the car arrived easily at Anyuan Bridge, Zheng Yin directed the driver through the mess of crooked and winding roads until they reached a small alley. It was only one or two kilometres away from the nearby main road, but the alley’s environment was as different from the broad and neat streets outside as though it was tens of thousands of kilometres away.

The alley was old and dilapidated, like an abandoned area forgotten by the city. A quick look over — the stains on the cement pavement glimmered greasily under the sun, and it wasn’t hard to see the traces of oil and smoke staining the doors of the street’s small shops after months and months and years and years.

The large character for ‘dismantle’ (拆) was written on the windows and walls of almost every shop, and the character was firmly encaged by a red circle — just like the people who lived in this alley who had no way to escape this kind of lifestyle.

“That one, the place called Lan Yan4.” Zheng Yin pointed at a store in front of them through the windshield. “Lei-ge, stop there.”

After driving another short distance, the car steadily stopped. Only then did Liang Sizhe clearly see the ‘Lan Yan’ Zheng Yin had mentioned. It was a flashily decorated store, most likely a karaoke bar, but upon closer look, it appeared more like one of those cabaret venues from the last century often shown on television. The cheap-looking gold frames on the glass sliding doors were rather gaudy.

“Come, get off.” Zheng Yin pushed open the door and went outside, going up the steps and into the entrance hall.

Liang Sizhe circled to the back of the car and took out his luggage. He went up the stairs with one hand holding his things.

The hall was narrow yet deep, the lighting dim. Looking over, he could only hazily see the staircase to go upstairs at the very end, and because it was yet to reach the shop’s usual operating hours, only the innermost toplight had been left on. The atmosphere of the place was dark and gloomy, yet suggestive and evocative.

Zheng Yin was standing at the bottom of the stairs, talking to a middle-aged woman. He wasn’t speaking loudly, but the woman honestly had a super loud voice — every word she said went directly into Liang Sizhe’s ears.

“Yin-ge, don’t worry. We do proper business here.”

“Director Cao’s son is also coming here? Then would Director Cao like to take a few of us to become actors? …Hahaha, I know, don’t worry. I’ll tell them to behave and to not provoke the young Master Cao in hopes of climbing up the social ladder.”

“A newcomer? Who?” The woman twisted her head around and looked at Liang Sizhe, who was standing at the entrance. She jerked her chin at him. “Is it him?” She was wearing a heavy layer of makeup, the foundation having settled into the wrinkles around her eyes. Under the dim lighting, her foundation made her look as chalky white as the wall.

“Yes.” Zheng Yin beckoned to Liang Sizhe. “Xiao Liang, come here.”

Liang Sizhe dropped his luggage onto the floor, pulled out the handle and walked over, dragging his luggage behind him.

“Ohh~ Director Cao has good eyes. This demeanour…” The woman crossed her arms over her chest and looked at Liang Sizhe from head to toe. She clucked her tongue and said, “And even long hair… He’ll be a superstar in the future, right — or is he a future film emperor?”

Zheng Yin let out a discreet cough and reached out to pull the woman to the side. Liang Sizhe heard him softly say, “He hasn’t been confirmed yet. Keep quiet, don’t spread the word everywhere.”

Liang Sizhe had no interest in eavesdropping on their conversation. With his fingers resting on the luggage handle, he freely looked around the place.

The two of them whispered for a while next to the wall, and then Zheng Yin’s voice recovered its usual volume. “Then I’ll head off first to pick up our young master. I’ll come back later.” He jerked his chin towards Liang Sizhe. “Xiao Liang, wait here for a bit.”

Liang Sizhe made a noise in response.

After Zheng Yin left, that woman walked back into the back room. Before she disappeared, she turned and said to Liang Sizhe, “Feel free to sit anywhere you want, make yourself at home.” She then went into the room.

The workers in charge of sweeping the floor and wiping down the tables were all focused on their work; no one paid attention to Liang Sizhe, and so he found a chair by himself and sat down.

Once it was close to dusk, the singing hall’s ladies started to come downstairs one after another, all of them in heavy makeup and revealing clothes. Liang Sizhe vaguely guessed the nature of this place: it was most likely not the ‘proper business’ that woman had said just earlier. He was slightly surprised — he didn’t expect there to still be such a den of iniquity within the Imperial City5.

The ladies passing by couldn’t help but look at Liang Sizhe and size him up — a youth had entered the singing hall before it was time for business, and that youth was truly eye-catching. He was like Tang Sanzang who’d abruptly burst into Pansi Cave without any regard for worldly concerns6; there was no way the people there could ignore his existence.

Except this ‘young Tang Sanzang’ kept his head lightly lowered, a medium-length ponytail tied up behind his head and a few aloof strands of hair hanging from his forehead. The contours of his face seemed to have been meticulously carved out by the most skilful of hands — even the shadow of his nose casted onto his face was just right. The youth’s aura was also very unique: he seemed somewhat incisive and piercing yet also somewhat dissolute. Just by sitting there in a daze towards everything, he already looked like a frame painstakingly extracted from a film. He looked entirely like someone with a story, and it made others want to probe into him.

Actually, Liang Sizhe wasn’t thinking of anything. His mind was empty, and he was staring blankly at a stain on the corner of the wall.

It had already been over half an hour, but Zheng Yin had yet to return. Liang Sizhe was about to fall asleep from waiting. Just as he was feeling drowsy, a voice suddenly came through the entrance, young and youthful and carrying some surprise and doubt. “Uncle Yin, you actually brought me to a place like this. Is this place reliable?”

The sleepiness that had crept over Liang Sizhe faded rapidly at this time. He raised his head and looked over at the entrance.

The setting sun was already very low. The curtain on the door was lifted high, and it was exceedingly bright outside while it was exceedingly dark inside. Liang Sizhe saw a tall and skinny youth standing at the entrance, and he was peering inside the place at this very moment.

Zheng Yin had personally over this time, and after he locked his car, he went up the steps outside and gave the back of that youth’s head a smack. “Why’d you get out of the car before it fully stopped.” And then, he turned towards the store and raised his voice. “Xiao Liang, come here for a moment.”

That youth stood with his back against the light, and Liang Sizhe only saw his face clearly after walking over. He was quite a good-looking boy, looking entirely like a young master who’d led a comfortable life.

They were similar in height, and right now, both of them were assessing each other with their eyes. Liang Sizhe’s eyes were obviously a bit more casual, while Cao Ye didn’t bother hiding his appraising gaze.

“Xiao Liang, let me introduce you. This is Cao Ye, Director Cao Xiuyuan’s only child.” Zheng Yin patted one of Cao Ye’s shoulders.

I can tell, Liang Sizhe silently said. Even though Cao Ye didn’t take after his father in looks, that forthright and blunt gaze when looking him up and down had truly been taken from Cao Xiuyuan.

“Hello,” Liang Sizhe calmly said.

And then, he saw a dumbfounded look flash over that youth’s face.

The next second, that youth turned around and looked at Zheng Yin. He quietly said, “Uncle Yin, is there a mistake?”

Zheng Yin didn’t understand. “What?”

Cao Ye tilted his face over, not looking at Liang Sizhe, and eased closer to Zheng Yin’s ears. Even though he kept his voice very low, they were too close, and Liang Sizhe was still able to clearly hear everything —

“He really is quite good-looking… But he’s a guy, right?”

Fuck. Liang Sizhe almost blurted out a curse. Luckily he managed to hold back — no wonder Cao Ye’d kept looking at him just then. Had Cao Ye taken him as the person who’d break his diet?

Zheng Yin first froze, and then once understanding dawned on him, he burst into loud laughter. “Cao Ye, what are you thinking!”

“I’m just not interested in men…” the youth said rather innocently, but then he abruptly seemed to realise they weren’t here for that. A touch of awkwardness instantly appeared on his face, and he reached up to scratch his forehead. Looking at Liang Sizhe, he said, “Ah… Did I make a mistake?”

“What else?” Liang Sizhe looked back at him with not much expression on his face.

“Sorry, bro…” Cao Ye apologised quite awkwardly, and then he turned back to Zheng Yin who couldn’t stop laughing. “Uncle Yin, stop laughing. Why’d you trick me here?”

Translator has something to say:

This is a name of his residential community, I believe, and there’s no direct translation for the characters provided (which are 阿禾那). So I’ve decided to leave it in pinyin. ↩The term used here is 开荤, which literally refers to breaking your vegetarian diet by eating meat. Used colloquially, it’s used to refer to losing your virginity if you’re young and are a guy. If a girl uses it, it can also refer to the fact she hasn’t had sex in a while! ↩Anyuan Bridge is 安苑桥, literally ‘anyuan’ + bridge. ↩‘Lan Yan’ is 蓝宴, and the characters translate to ‘blue’ and commonly, ‘banquet’. The name of the shop can be ‘Blue Banquet’, but it doesn’t quite sound nice in English. ↩‘Imperial City’ refers to a certain part of what is now Beijing. It’s the area where the Forbidden City palace complex is. ↩Reminder that Tang Sanzang is the monk in Journey to the West. In the story, Tang Sanzang once intruded into Pansi Cave, where only female demons live and thus were all scantily clothed. Back in those days, men weren’t meant to go anywhere near women’s private quarters, let alone a monk — and so the ‘without any regard for worldly concerns’. This particular phrase can also be used to refer to LSZ being the only guy in the midst of a bunch of women. 🙂 ↩

I’ve also recently created a carrd for this novel! You can have a look at it here if you’d like, and hopefully it’ll give you some further information about this book 🙂

P – Chapter 2.3

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