Chapter 12: CH 12

In the end, Shen Qi didn’t manage to stay the night… There were kisses, hugs, touches… After mutual relief, Jiang Changshen sent him home.

After all, it was only the first day of their relationship. It wasn’t good to get physical immediately. It was best to be friendly at the start to judge compatibility and how the relationship grew.

What’s more, the happiness value had risen by five points after their physical activities, reaching fifty-nine points. Just a little more and he’d reach the passing line.

Shen Qi was satisfied.

The next day, he woke up and packed his bags. His agent’s assistant brought him on a plane to head to the filming area. And as if by great coincidence, they ran into the Film Emperor Jiang on the same flight.

The two agents exchanged a helpless look. The seats had been changed so that actors could sit together.

This was no coincidence, of course. The ticket had been modified last night when Jiang Changshen was on his way home to drop off Shen Qi.

Because it was a short trip, the first-class area wasn’t separated into special compartments like long flights. There were single and double seats, with only an armrest that could serve as a small table between the two.

It wasn’t a holiday period or a weekend, so the first-class area was not full. There were three seats in one row. They were the only ones in the row where Jiang Changshen and his manager, Song Yan, sat. When Shen Qi came over, it felt like he and Jiang Changshen were the only ones there, everything else fading away.

When Shen Qi sat down, he grabbed Jiang Changshen’s hand. His pretty eyes fluttered, incapable of containing his excitement.

Jiang Changshen’s hands were long, healthy and strong. Unlike Shen Qi, whose hands were pale and delicate because of his upbringing. He looked like he had never done any hard work.

Shen Qi played with Jiang Changshen’s hand as if he had found a new toy. He picked it up and smelled it. Since Jiang Changshen had recently smoked, it had a faint scent of cigarette.

It was like a cat holding its master’s hand.

This thought came to Jiang Changshen suddenly as he watched. In a moment of softness, he stroked the kitten’s cheek with a hint of amusement.

Only then did Shen Qi realize how his actions would appear. He let go with a cough, his expression becoming serious.

“Did Brother Jiang sleep well last night?”

Jiang Changshen rolled his eyes as if it meant nothing. “Fine, and you?”

Shen Qi’s ears flushed red. He remembered his charming dream and his eyes sparkled. “I-I slept okay too…”

Jiang Changshen gave a light chuckle: “Heh.”

How could he misunderstand when the teenager’s expression was so obvious? But in the end, while he’d guessed the truth, he wasn’t about to be irritating about it, so he changed the subject.

“Have you read the script carefully?”

Shen Qi was slightly relieved and nodded. “I read it all. Yang Yuan helped me research the details, and I watched past films and TV shows about it.”

Yang Yuan was his agent.

The two of them discussed how they’d act in various scenes. It was mostly Shen Qi talking while Jiang Changshen listened, giving him advice from time to time. If a flight attendant were to pass by, their interaction wouldn’t come off oddly. At most one would lament that the two were close.

The journey took less than two hours and the landing was quick.

Once they were off the plane, Shen Qi planned to leave separately. After “Countryside Life” and “Eating Everything under the Heavens” had aired, he’d gained a lot of popularity. Today’s so-called ‘fresh meat’ idols always attracted a small group of fans with sniper eyes who’d figure out what flight their idol was on and be there when he arrived.

Shen Qi wasn’t a big fan of that habit, though. After all, it was mostly underage students who liked him, spending their parents’ money and sometimes even running around during school hours to do this kind of thing.

It was just baffling to Shen Qi. He didn’t lack money or power, and entering the entertainment industry was just a personal hobby, so he didn’t need his fans to back him up in this way.

But he had no control over the actions of others. Even though he had often advised against such behaviour online, some girls still followed him.

Moreover, when faced with this kind of fans, it didn’t matter that it was unadvisable for them to go after him. If something were to happen, it would still be Shen Qi being blamed.

For almost 20 years, Jiang Changshen’s once young fans had been mature. They wouldn’t deliberately track the flight to chase after him. It was much easier for him.

So in order to prevent Jiang Changshen being besieged like him, Shen Qi was going to walk separately. Anyway, he was young, so he could take being squeezed and tugged in all directions.

But how could he have guessed that Jiang Changshen would stay close? The man waved at Manager Song Yan. “You have Xiao Li and Xiao Qi’s assistant pick up the luggage. We’ll go out together later, and you’ll contact the crew to have the car drive over here.”

Song Yan and Yang Yuan looked at each other. They could only do as they were told and felt a bit of empathy for one another. They were in the same situation: an artist was a boss, so they could only obey orders. An artist was a young master no one could afford to offend. Yet despite being agents, how could the two of them be so miserable?

“Thanks Brother Jiang!” Shen Qi was so touched that if it weren’t for the crowds, he would have hugged Jiang Changshen. All he could do was take hold the man’s hand and hide the act behind the folds of their clothes.

Jiang Changshen grabbed the hand and shifted the hold so their fingers were intertwined. He held it tightly before releasing it. Then, he whispered in Shen Qi’s ear:

“How are you going to thank me?”

Shen Qi looked down and licked his lips, his gaze wry and ambiguous.

“What do you think?”

That was too little!

Jiang Changshen picked up his hat and placed it on his head. He waited.

…

…

…

The appearance of Film Emperor Jiang Changshen and popular idol Shen Qi at the airport together, as well as the two brother’s positive interactions immediately garnered a lot of attention.

Fans and netizens who were aware of Shen Qi’s life path expressed their envy and admiration. They were impressed with how far Shen Qi had come in pursuit of stardom. This attention also gave a publicity boost to their upcoming collaboration in a new drama. The director-producer was happy to see it happen and even gave a push to the media attention towards those two.

Of course, there are also some cynical black powder fans, almost all of them mocking Shen Qi, thinking that he was going against his persona and trying to leech popularity from others.

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However, Shen Qi’s fanboyish tendencies were corroborated by evidence, and the words of those hate-fans were ignored.

Shen Qi lay on his hotel bed brushing up on the news. His heart was full of pleasure, close to overflowing. He had been in love with Jiang Changshen for eight years, and finally the day had come for their names to be placed side by side. He had trouble expressing his excitement.

He was on a videocall and Jiang Changshen was on the other end of the phone. Shen Qi looked at him, his eyes burning with excitement.

“I love you so much.”

After saying that he whimpered, rolling over twice on his bed.

He waited for a reaction. When none came he sat up, only to find that at some point, the video call had dropped. He called back and it rang a few times, but no one answered. Instead, there was a sudden knock at the door.

“Who is it?”

He sat up with a jolt.

“Open the door.”

The voice was deliberately low, but Shen Qi knew right off the bat who it was. He didn’t even bother to put on shoes and almost flew to the door. He opened and it was indeed Jiang Changshen.

Jiang Changshen gazed straight at him, deep emotion in his eyes, as if something was brewing. He came in nonchalantly and closed the door behind him.

“Brother Jiang, what are you doing here… ?” Happy, Shen Qi went to take the man’s hand.

“Why can’t I come?” Jiang Changshen, however, had cracked at this moment, grabbing him by the wrist and pushing him up against the door. “Well?”

Shen Qi wasn’t afraid of him at all. He smiled as he reached out and wrapped his arms around the man’s neck. With butterflies in his stomach, he brought his phone up to Jiang Changshen’s face.

“Brother Jiang look, in the news, I’m named with you!”

He toggled the picture. “This is the best one. I’m saving it… Ah!”　

He shrieked as Jiang Changshen actually picked him up. He was completely startled as his body was suddenly up in the air and instinctively hugged Jiang Changshen like a baby. Once he got over the surprise, he clamped his legs together and put his hands around the man.

“You’re that happy?” Jiang Changshen hugged him back and walked further into the house.

“Bro-Brother Jiang…” Shen Qi reddened.

Ouch. That pose, that movement, it was bringing him to his knees. That was cheating!

“Well?”

Jiang Changshen walked nonchalantly, his big hands wrapped right around Shen Qi’s hips, obviously not moving lower, yet it made Shen Qi feel hot and searing, his body pressed against Jiang Changshen and his insides heated up.

Calm down, Little Shen Qi!

He plucked up his courage and pretended not to feel anything. “Yes, I’m that happy! I entered show business to be near you. Now that my name and yours are put together, I’m glad.”

Jiang Changshen suddenly stopped and kissed him on the forehead.

“I saw it.”

“What?”

“Your Weibo history,” he said. “I’ve seen it all.”

He had seen the entire record of this fan of his, Shen Qi’s complete admiration and appreciation for Jiang Changshen, and how he had worked hard, step by step, to come and stand beside his idol.

“You like me that much?”

He smiled with a sense of pleasure and auto-satisfaction that Shen Qi couldn’t see.

Shen Qi could not resist the temptation of beauty and decisively confessed everything: “Yeah, that’s how much I like you. I didn’t actually even think at first that you’d want to be with me. I was hoping that we could be friends. That would have been nice. But the first time I saw you, I knew that you and I were the same, and I decided to pursue you!”

Shen Qi hadn’t thought Jiang Changshen would really have caught on. What was that saying? Ah yes, that he must have saved the universe in a previous life to be this lucky!

“I like you!” Full of love, he leaned in and kissed Jiang Changshen on the lips. “All my life I’ve only loved you. I’ve dreamed of you every night. I’m willing even if you’re only momentarily interested in me.” At that moment, the excitement in his eyes dimmed. “If you don’t like me anymore, just tell me. I won’t make it difficult for you, and I’m happy enough that you’re willing to give me a chance.”　

Jiang Changshen’s eyes fluttered, and finally sighed. He kissed the tip of Shen Qi’s nose lovingly. “Poor little thing. Why do you make yourself sound so pathetic?”

Shen Qi became a bit red. It had come out before he could think. In retrospect, his words could seem a bit pretentious. “Ah, that’s what I meant to say…”

“What am I to do?” Jiang Changshen nuzzled against Shen Qi’s forehead, so their noses were entwined, and bit him on the lips. “Talking so pathetically makes me want to bully you even more.”

Suddenly he changed his voice: “You said you dreamed about me every night. What kind of dreams?”

“Ahem…” Shen Qi instantly choked and turned bright red.

Jiang Changshen kissed his forehead.

“Have you been dreaming of me like this? Or like this?”

He continued downwards in a trail of kisses, to the eyes, the tip of the nose, the cheeks, and finally down to the lips. Suddenly, his eyes changed, and the soft kisses became very fierce, full of nibbling and sucking as if he were going to tear Shen Qi apart and swallow him.

As Shen Qi was kissed, his body turned towards Jiang Changshen. The man carried him over to the counter near the fridge and placed him on it. As soon as Jiang Changshen’s hands were free, he immediately clasped the back of Shen Qi’s head and brought him close.

This kiss was completely different from their last gentle lingering one. The ferocity almost frightened Shen Qi. It was as if Jiang Changshen was going to chew him up inch by inch and swallow him.　

Shen Qi’s hands and feet were completely relaxed. If it wasn’t for Jiang Changshen holding him by the waist, he’d almost go limp. His awareness was fading, and he could only follow Jiang Changshen’s actions.

Shen Qi’s eyes were closed, but Jiang Changshen’s eyes were open. He was watching Shen Qi from tip to toe, without blinking. He observed as Shen Qi reacted to his actions, his eyes cold and frightening.

Shen Qi didn’t see, too distracted to notice. Only one thing was on my mind; something was wrong. Why hadn’t the happiness level gone up?

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