previous chapter¦ TOC ¦ next chapter

Luo Ding looked out of the car window, and saw young girls holding banners printed with photos of Duan Xiubo everywhere outside the airport. These fans had gathered together in groups of three and five and were talking and pointing at the exit. They were probably planning the pick-up which was to happen soon.

There were more people present than Luo Ding had imagined.

“Wear a hat” seeing that Wu Fangyuan was about to get out of the car, Luo Ding pulled him over, took off the hat from his own head, widened it, and buckled it on the head of the other party. “Hurry up and choose a time to darken your hair. With your big blonde head, people will know that you are my assistant at a glance.”

Wu Fangyuan clutched his head: “No, blonde looks good!”

“Looks good my ass.” Luo Ding smiled and kicked him gently. “It’s almost time, Go.”

Duan Xiubo had told him over the phone yesterday that the two of them would have to go to the United States to prepare for filming. Recently, Luo Ding and Clovis had both been busy, and coupled with the time difference, they had not been in contact much. Luo Ding had only learned from Clovis that there was more than a month of training before the start of filming. For the rest of the details, Duan Xiubo would have to explain to him.

As a newcomer among the actors in this film, Clovis was very worried that Luo Ding would be unable to adapt to the rhythm of a Hollywood filming schedule. But only Luo Ding himself knew how unnecessary the other’s concerns were. He had participated in similar training sessions more than once in his last life.

When the audience appreciates a film on the big screen, they will only have an evaluation of the actor’s personal performance or the plot. However, they were unaware that it was the seemingly ordinary details on the screen that were really the key to test whether a film is intricate and meticulous.

The plot was set in a fictional world in another dimension. The main storyline was the struggle between the nations on several continents in this fictional world.

The nation’s grievances and resentments from generation to generation had been passed on to the soldiers who guarded the country, showing all the helplessness and passion incisively and vividly.

The film setting was similar to a combination of the Middle Ages and an age of Magic and Wizadry, making this series of movies based on war, more similar to films that had gorgeous visual elements.

This theme was the subject to be studied in the training class set up before the start of filming.

The sense of drama when filming a movie, the tacit understanding between actors during a scene, the body language that should be magnified for various lenses etc., would all be repeatedly mentioned and learned in this training class.

Thinking of the hard work during the training camp of his past, Luo Ding sighed in embarrassment, but before he could deepen his memories, he heard a wave of screams from outside.

He is coming.

Chased and surrounded by a large number of pick-up fans, Duan Xiubo, who was escorted by his four bodyguards who were casually dressed in black, walked unhurriedly. Mi Rui took the lead and Wu Fangyuan who was carrying the bags for him chased behind.

“Duan Xiubo ah ah ah ah ah !!!” The screams of fans could be heard through the car door, Luo Ding thought of the orderly scene when his fans had picked him up and, in his heart, he felt a little pride.

Duan Xiubo looked around after walking out of terminal, and his sight almost immediately caught Luo Ding who had secretly lowered the car window and was beckoning him. The smile on his face suddenly widened and his eyes softened.

Fans who had been chasing and filming him, after catching up, saw his big smile and screamed louder. Duan Xiubo stopped, bowed to them, turned and then walked towards the car.

Luo Ding pulled the car door open for him and naturally he was exposed to the eyes of the fans outside.

There was a moment of silence.

Luo Ding poked out his head and waved to everyone with a smile, then quickly retreated to the other corner of the seat to give way to Duan Xiubo and Mi Rui.  The door closed, blocking the sudden sound outside the car.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

“Hurry up, let’s go!” Wu Fangyuan jumped into the passenger seat and took off his hat. With sweat on his face, he urged the driver in panic: “Hurry up. Otherwise we will be stuck in traffic soon!”

The driver responded quickly. After the car started, Duan Xiubo lowered the window and poked his head out to say goodbye to the fans who were still running after him.

Luo Ding handed him a tissue.

“Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha……”

Duan Xiubo wiped his sweat helplessly: “What are you laughing at?”

“I am laughing at the reaction of your fans when they saw me. Was it strange for me to pick you up?”

Duan Xiubo patted Luo Ding’s head with a smile in his eyes: “Of course it’s not strange, but …”

Luo Ding asked, “… but what?”

Duan Xiubo thought of the group of CP fans that he had seen when he browsed on Weibo, who were committed to making him and Luo Ding a pair. Did Luo Ding not take this group of fans seriously? His attitude was really open.

Hiding his smile, Duan Xiubo shook his head calmly: “Nothing.”

“Your bodyguards did not get into the car. Is it okay to leave them there?”

“It’s okay, it’s safe in China. They will take a taxi to the company later.” Duan Xiubo took over the conversation and asked him, “Have you been busy lately? I heard about your album while I was abroad. The MV we shot together can be seen everywhere, and your songs can be heard playing in many places played.”

Mi Rui, who had managed to cram the luggage into the back seat of the car, couldn’t help rolling his eyes when he heard Duan Xiubo’s insipid tone. He was pretending to be unaware yet the biggest purchase in the album’s online pre-sale was his order. On the day of the sale, Duan Xiubo had heard that the album was not available in the United States, and directly asked Mi Rui to ask someone in Japan to buy it for him. That man was also a fool. He bought more than a dozen pieces at a time and sent them across the ocean to the United States. These days, after completing his activities, he had played them in his study and Mi Rui was now familiar with the melody.

He had it memorized.

Luo Ding had not been aware, so he was a little surprised when he had heard the news.

Because most of their influence was in the Asian region, Gu Yaxing had feared that they would make mistakes if, for this first album, they spread their net too wide. Thus, they had simply ruled out all other markets except Asia and concentrated on Japan, South Korea and several South-east Asian countries. Later, he had heard that some Chinese music fans from Europe, America and Australia had expressed their helplessness in following domestic stars on the company’s official blog, hoping that the company could expand its sales network next time. However, at the time, Luo Ding had believed that his audience on these continents were only Chinese.

After rediscovering his sense of vanity from being recognized everywhere in his last life, Luo Ding was in a good mood. Being exhausted from work during this period of time was not a problem.

Duan Xiubo gave Luo Ding the itinerary Clovis had provided, then he leaned on his side and started browsing weibo.

The fans who had picked him up at the airport were fast. In just a few tens of minutes, their photos had been posted online.

Among the comments praising them as handsome men and good-looking male gods, a few photos stood out like a dark horse.

Recently, he used an alternate account to blog. Most of his group of followers were CP fans, and Duan Xiubo had also become a four-figure fan in the circle because of the hundreds of albums he had bought. So, at this time there were many new people on his weibo home page.

What had turned fans crazy was a gif of Luo Ding pulling open the door and waving his hand at everyone. After waving, he naturally retracted back into the car and only his arm which he had extended to support Duan Xiubo was left on camera.

“A lifetime couple!”

“This official is being forced to die!”

“A match made in heaven!”

“The male god is virtuous!”

Duan Xiubo thought for a moment and posed a comment underneath.

Alessandro: “Everyone is rejoicing[1] .”

Then he couldn’t help but grin as he watched the replies go up and down.

Luo Ding who bowed his head, pondered over the training class itinerary, because he had a hunch that he was going to be busy lately. He had specifically told Gu Yaxing to keep his schedule free in October. Thus, at present apart from a few interviews in China, he had nothing to worry about. The intent of Clovis’s plan was very clear. It was best to commence the intensive training class before the middle of October. That is to say, Luo Ding will leave China and temporarily live in the United States to participate in the group training before the middle of October at the latest.

When filming, actors had no human rights. Not to mention that Luo Ding was just playing a minor supporting role. After much consideration, there was no other choice but to follow the itinerary.

Duan Xiubo’s laughter pulled him out of his thoughts.

Seeing the weibo page from the reflection in the glass of the car’s window, Luo Ding casually said, “Duan ge is browsing Weibo?”

It was just a casual question.

With a bang, Duan Xiubo’s phone fell to the ground.

Luo Ding looked at him in surprise.

Duan Xiubo quickly and quietly retrieved the mobile phone, placed the phone on the seat face down, smiled at Luo Ding and said: “Just saying thank you to the fans who picked me up at the airport.”

Luo Ding hesitated for a moment and then whispered praise in a low voice: “… well, that’s very thoughtful.”

Duan Xiubo simply locked the phone and placed it in his pocket, pulled out his sleeping mask and wore it: “After flying for so long. I’m sleepy. I’ll sleep for a while.”

*******

Gu Yaxing had no opinion on this work report. Luo Ding’s ability to go to Hollywood for filming was already a gift from the sky. He had also worked as an artist and understood the hardship involved. However, with fame as a motivator, people’s tolerance had always been able to exceed their own estimates.

He opened the statistics page to show to Luo Ding.

This was the voting page of the three major music player platforms. The four songs from Luo Ding EP ’s were popular and had stopped other singers from occupying the top three positions. Gu Yaxing said: “The person in charge of the website contacted me and will cancel the voting qualifications of your other three songs and will substitute it for one song. Thus, your song is sure to win the championship. You have basically won four places. It’s too popular. “

Luo Ding understood what he meant. The online media groups held an annual music awards ceremony. As a popular champion, he must attend.

Don’t underestimate the influence of online media. In recent years, with the development of the Internet, the physical record market was slowly shrinking. Correspondingly, the advantages of convenient and efficient online media was becoming more obvious. For such a seemingly insignificant music event, the attendees had become more and more important every year. Looking at the list of past guests on the website, you could tell that from the beginning, only new singers attended, and then gradually it attracted popular Japanese and Korean idol groups. Until last year when they invited the Heavenly Queen of pop music Tian Tianhou to help out. This year it was not known what form the show will take.

Being able to win a prize was a good thing for Luo Ding.

Even if he was busy, he needed to take the time to come back.

****

After the news of Luo Ding joining “Blade Warrior III” spread, all his developments became big news that various media agencies were scrambling to uncover.

While many people felt that this would result in an over-consumption of popularity, there were also many who believed that Luo Ding’s road to fame was going to be further solidified during this period of exposure.

Now that Luo Ding was finally going to the United States to officially start filming, with his ever increasing popularity and the bonus popularity of his colleague Duan Xiubo, after some publicity, this information quickly became well-known in China.

Soon, the online music platform officially announced their decision to invite Luo Ding to attend this year’s awards ceremony. Seeing that Luo Ding’s popularity had risen to the top of the list after the scattered voting on his three songs was removed, any fool would know who the winner of this year’s popularity award will be. Further, with the help of so many big names in the production of the album, the best production award and the newcomer award would also not escape Luo Ding’s clutches. At the same time, Pan Yiming who was also a finalist was sure to also attend the event. She also had a hot album domestically and internationally and Luo Ding who participated in the MV filming  would also have a share.

After receiving these online music awards it will then be the annual grand celebration of Chinese music in December. Didn’t Gu Yaxing release this album before October, in order to catch the last bus to the grandest ceremony in the Chinese music world?

This was an EP with only four songs that had set a new domestic sales record. Several big names had helped at the production stage and Duan Xiubo had made a guest appearance in the MV. Additionally, the response in the overseas market was even hotter than in the domestic market.

Did such an album not have a place at the annual awards festival? What a joke.

There were many people in the circle who bitterly said that for this record to achieve such good results it could not be separated from the big names that had joined the production, but discerning people could see that Luo Ding’s talent and popularity were the biggest factors that had led to the success of the album.

However, it was probably because things had gone too well recently because there were more and more unexplained attempts by anti-fans on the Internet to expose old issues related to Luo Ding. His previous work, when he partnered with Su Shengbai in the past, were all uncovered. Compared with his talent now, Luo Ding, who was suppressed by Su Shengbai in the past, naturally appeared strange to many people.

Many details that were ignored before his popularity, such as Luo Ding’s conspicuous silence on various variety shows and his past melancholic expression which was different from his present sunny and mild personality was brought up for discussion. The interval between Luo Ding’s last appearance in the past and his current brilliant performance was only about one to two months. What could have happened in the past month or so became a hot topic of discussion for many people.

Lip Synching, a double personality, and even twin brothers had been offered as hypothesis, some people even put forward a rebirth theory that was now hot on the Internet, but all these suggestions were treated as a joke and never taken seriously.

However, because of such deep digging, Su Shengbai’s past departure from the group could not escape the eyes of the public. Thus, many people naturally took his departure as the reason for Luo Ding’s transformation.

Because the original group was not very popular and the fans of Su Shengbai’s music few, most people only discovered him after he appeared in a TV series. Su Shengbai’s image on screen was always very good because of Cao Dingkun’s deliberate management. In fact his solo history of being a poor boy who was polite, grateful, and fresh like a gust of wind had surprised many of his former fans.

In a group, going solo was a taboo topic.

If the two sides had talked well and gotten along well and if each had their own development before they split then at most the group’s fans would be heartbroken and would either turn into personal fans or leave completely.

But Su Shengbai’s attitude when he left Yaxing Studio was undoubtedly very ugly.

Cao Dingkun was a relatively straightforward person. At the beginning, since the duo was not popular, no one had paid attention. He wanted to promote Su Shengbai so he had executed it. Gu Yaxing had refused to let him go, so he introduced a liquidated damages penalty that prevented him from talking.

But before the liquidated damages penalty was implemented, routine judicial procedures were always inevitable.

Su Shengbai, whose popularity was once so low that news of his lawsuit could only appear in the inside pages of tabloids could never have expected that Luo Ding would ever have this day.  The photo of the press meeting the day the group’s disbandment was announced was photocopied from the local tabloids and posted on the internet. At that time, Su Shengbai who was not good at hiding his feelings was radiant because he now had a chance to become popular but Luo Ding who was seated at the other side of the long table looked down silently. His young handsome eyes were full of a lingering melancholy. In the eyes of his current fans, it was clear how distressed he was!

As if the reporters were afraid that the world was not chaotic enough, from goodness knows where, news of the close relationship between Su Shengbai and Cao Dingkun was uncovered. Some insiders revealed that the person who dug Su Shengbai out of Yaxing Studio was Cao Dingkun, and that the relationship between the two was suspicious.

Everything in this world is traceable.

Regardless, before the truth became known, Su Shengbai’s pure mask of sunshine had already been peeled off.

Many outsiders that had long found him unpleasant saw him fall to the ground and burst out with negative materials. Fortunately, Su Shengbai was normally very cautious in his words and deeds and did not have so many issues that others could use to control him, thus he could avoid being completely overturned by this storm.  

Listening to Su Shengbai’s tearful explanation on the phone, Luo Ding casually responded, took the boarding pass that Duan Xiubo gave him and walked towards the lounge area.

Duan Xiubo stared at him, his expression showed no difference but because of the impatience revealed in Luo Ding’s eyes, his ears were tightly locked on the sounds coming out of the other party’s earphones.

“All these years I have regretted it…” Su Shengbai whimpered. The sound of him blowing his nose with a tissue was particularly disgusting.

After showing his boarding pass, Luo Ding entered the lounge, and consoled: “I know, I know.”

“Do you blame me?”

“I do not blame you.”

“At the start I was so apologetic towards you … but you have to believe that Cao ge and I are innocent. He was not gay and I was afraid he will discriminate against me so I did not dare tell him about our relationship.”

Luo Ding could only admire him for telling lies with his eyes wide open while saying: “I know, I know.”

“Then you are not mad at me?” Su Shengbai cried became quieter as he choked a little”

“No, why should I be mad at you?”

“That … then can you come forward and clarify …” The other party spoke timidly, for fear that Luo Ding would be angry, and hurriedly added, Oh, just for the past things … “I had an event the day before yesterday and someone smashed eggs into the car… scared me to death …!”

Luo Ding knew that Su shengbai had called for this purpose, but he didn’t point it out. Instead he appeared as if he was caught in a dilemma: “As soon as the issue came out, I tried to clarify but Mr. Gu directly changed my Weibo account access information. I have no other news channels. Currently I am going to film a movie abroad and have no domestic interviews scheduled …”

Gu Yaxing!

Su Shengbai’s teeth were itchy from hate. When the duo was disbanded, Gu Yaxing’s had said that Su Shengbai was short-sighted and that even if he became popular it would be a flash in a pan. He had known then that the other party just wanted to disgust him that was why he had said such things. Yet, after Cao Dingkun’s death, his career had gone downhill, coinciding with Gu Yaxing’s prophetic words. Damn this crow’s mouth! Gu Yaxing must hate him because of his departure! Every day and every night, he must be looking forward to the day when Su shengbai falls to the bottom of the valley!

However, Luo Ding’s gentle comfort made Su Shengbai feel much better.

The speed of Luo Ding’s popularity was completely beyond his expectations. As a young star who was to join a Hollywood productions, if he was being undoubtedly frank, this card would double his strength.

Su Shengbai always remembered what the other party had said to him at the party.

Now that Luo Ding had a wavering attitude, he was not as easy to control as before, so Su Shengbai had also devised his own strategy and had become much more clever and sensible. Luo Ding had not yet found a good home so naturally, he will listen to Gu Yaxing’s instructions at Yaxing Studio, but as he becomes more and more popular, his right to speak will surely increase in the future. At that time, Gu Yaxing and his fans will all be irrelevant. As long as Luo Ding sends a post, the reputation he has lost now can be quickly restored.

Knowing that the other party was about to get on the plane, Su Shengbai gently told him to pay attention to his body several times, and then he reluctantly hung up the phone.

Luo Ding exhaled.

Duan Xiubo guessed after extrapolating from the various questions and answers just now: “Su Shengbai?”

“Yes.” Luo Ding nodded, rubbing his brows, “He wants me to help clarify his reputation.”

Luo Ding’s gentle tone and the impatience in his eyes during the call helped Duan Xiubo’s brain to make up the plot for this idol drama. Holding back his sour thoughts, he asked blandly: “Do you still have a good relationship with him? The news report says that he left you alone at the beginning, is that true or false? “

“True.”

“Then why does he still have the face to make such a request of you?”

Luo Ding didn’t know how to explain to him that it was because Su Shengbai regarded him as his spare tire. Or that he was just pretending to be coquettish. He couldn’t say this, he could only evade the question: “It’s hard to say.”

Duan Xiubo frowned, what was Luo Ding avoiding?

Thinking of the thick scar on his Luo Ding’s hand, he quickly took a few steps, grabbed Luo Ding’s shoulder and asked in a low voice, “Did you cut your wrist for him?”

That Duan Xiubo, who was always very perceptive was so unwilling to let this problem go was beyond Luo Ding’s expectations. But his precise guess did not make him feel alarmed. Many things were just difficult to talk about, but not forbidden.

After confirming that no one around him could hear the conversation on his side, Luo Ding nodded and readily acknowledged: “Yes.”

He was right!

Duan Xiubo’s eyes widened. This nonsensical guess was actually confirmed?!!

Luo Ding really cut his wrists for Su Shengbai?!!

What is this!!! … what kind of bloody drama is this?!! So Luo Ding’s current struggle and rise was simply a story of a young man who had been abandoned by his partner and then changed his mind to become a new man. But how could young people give up their lives so easily for a small partner! This is not an S&M romance!

…

BDSM romance …

Duan Xiubo felt like he was about to go crazy.

Mi Rui soon discovered Duan Xiubo’s abnormality as he stood rooted in place with the corner of his mouth twitching. Mi Rui put the things he had bought on the table and moved closer with concern: “What are you doing, Duan ge? Are you uncomfortable?”

Duan Xiubo pursed his lips and said, “… Go away.”

Numbness

Mi Rui stepped back with a sullen expression. If it wasn’t for the damned salary, I would resign tomorrow!

When he stepped back, he bumped into a meat wall, and Mi Rui turned his face to meet the blond fat man. Wu Fangyuan’s large, innocent eyes blinked. He stared at him seriously.

Thinking of the other’s income and then comparing their annual salary, his frustrated heart was quickly cured. He pushed up his glasses and proudly turned his head.

As for this guess, Duan Xiubo didn’t dare to ask and so his anger could only be held in his stomach. No matter what the answer is, it was not a good thing for him. If the guess was true, then he will be so angry that he would be unable to fall asleep. If the guess is false, then Luo Ding may be surprised as to why he would think of BDSM romance? It would be a great damage to his brilliant image!

Until the plane landed, he was still tangled up in his anger.

Except for Wu Fangyuan, this group of people were all in a bad mood. When they arrived at the studio in a depressed manner, Carmen Clovis only felt that his back was cold.

“… Luo” He hesitated for a while, and bypassed the rare expressionless Duan Xiubo and hugged Luo Ding directly. “Congratulations, I heard that your album was very successful. Duan later sent me one …”

Duan Xiubo’s face changed, and he reached out to poke him: “Are all the training personnel here?”

Clovis was puzzled: “?”

Luo Ding had heard something peculiar: “Duan sent you one later? What did he give you? The album?”

Duan Xiubo pursed his lips a few times and tried to intervene but was stopped by the smiling expression in Luo Ding’s yes.

Clovis watched Duan Xiubo’s expression, and answered tremulously: “… Yes, yeah, not only me, Emma, ​​Tony too … a lot of people in the crew received it…”

Shit, what a cheap mouth. Duan Xiubo turned his back.

Luo Ding stepped forward and pulled the corner of his clothes with a smile: “Duan ge?”

Duan Xiubo face looked serious: “Yes?”

“How many did you buy?”

Duan Xiubo pursed his lips: “Not many”

“How many did you buy?”

“… not many …”

“Approximate number.”

“…” Duan Xiubo’s face ate sh*t and he replied dryly: “One thousand.”

This time Luo Ding was really moved.

His expression changed several times, and finally solidified into a helpless smile.

“Thank you.” He pulled down the other’s arm. “Is it embarrassing to tell me? I will also recommend your movie to my friends to boost the box office numbers. Thank you for promoting me.”

Duan Xiubo’s uneasiness lessened: “It’s just a small matter.”

******

Duan Xiubo, who was sitting in the corner staring at Luo Ding with a smile, made Clovis’s commentary appear much softer.

In the same small lounge, including Duan Xiubo and Luo Ding, there were twelve men, and one woman.

Naturally, this was the well-deserved heroine, but unfortunately there were not many shots of female characters in this film. Emma Routrange, a great beauty known as the sweetheart of Hollywood, probably had a smaller supporting role than Luo Ding.

She played the Elven Queen of the North Continent.

She had arrived just five minutes before the meeting was about to start, wearing a beautiful mini skirt and super high-heeled shoes that looked very hard at first sight. She was full of beautiful and charming aura.

Clovis told her: “The temperament of the Elven queen requires you to spend a long time thinking about it. Don’t underestimate the few shots. As long as you are charming enough, the entire audience will not forget your role.”

Emma straightened her back and smiled at him in a dignified manner

Clove shook his head. “Not enough.”

Ulm, who played a warrior in the rear, approached Emma and patted her shoulder for comfort as Clovis turned to others. Emma stepped sideways to avoid him and just happened to meet Luo Ding’s gaze from the other side of the long table, pursing her pink lips, she flashed a polite smile at Luo Ding.

Luo Ding also smiled and nodded hello to her.

After seeing his smile, Emma expression showed a momentary surprise, her eyes suddenly closed and she even stretched out her slender right hand to beckon at Luo Ding.

Duan Xiubo who sat next to Luo Ding noticed the exchange between the two of them. Frowning slightly, he grabbed Luo Ding’s waist and whispered.

“Pay attention. What Carmen is saying now is very important.”

He looked at Emma.

This was the second time he and Emma were working together. They were very familiar with each other, so she blinked her big eyes to playfully change the object of her greeting.

Ulm’s eyes followed with a jealous look.

Duan Xiubo felt a headache coming.

Translator’s Notes

5,000 plus words. These chapters are really long :/

Su shengbai becoming unintended collateral damage makes me so happy. I love it when my MC need not lift a finger and the filth takes itself out.

Also vinegar Duan is back.

If you spot typos please let me know. I proof read once and its likely not enough. Thanks

[1] The phrase used here is xǐ dà pǔ bēn  (of news etc) – which means something so thrilling that everyone is rejoicing and spreading the word (Internet slang).

previous chapter¦ TOC ¦ next chapter

Please follow and like us: