Chapter 5: CH 5

Shen Qi’s body was slightly stiff. He was happy Brother Jiang was so close to him, but the cameras were filming and he didn’t dare to be rude, so he made sure to look reserved.

But Jiang Changshen only gave a low laugh. Nothing superfluous was said, as if the ambiguous air had been purely a figment of Shen Qi’s imagination.

“Okay.”

Jiang Changshen put down the saltshaker and stepped back. “Flip it.”

The presence that warmed his back disappeared. Shen Qi was relieved, not sure whether to be glad or let down. He stopped focusing on those messy thoughts and concentrated on the stir-fry.

Quite quickly, a plate of delicious local delicacies was ready to be served.

Shen Qi decided to take out his cell phone. He snapped a picture.

“Brother Jiang, help me out by serving it. I’ll clean up the area in the meanwhile.”

Naturally, Jiang Changshen would not stop him from working hard in front of the camera. And with his current affection towards Shen Qi, he even complimented Shen Qi for the camera before leaving with the food.

Shen Qi immediately began preparing the steamed eggs and asked the cameraman to watch the time to help keep this a secret. He asked the him to remind him as soon as ten minutes had passed.

After that, Shen Qi pretended to clean the stove and went towards the dining table so the meal could be filmed.

Needless to say, Liang Yu, Xie Jun and Jiang Changshen would have praised the dish no matter how badly it might have been cooked. However, the dish was good enough to not need empty flattery.

Then they chatted about the reason behind making this dish, which led to mentioning the upcoming broadcast of “Eating Everything under the Heavens” that would be on the same TV station. The ad was very well planned.

Once the ten minutes were up, the cameraman did as promised. He covered his mouth and coughed.

Shen Qi stood up with an excuse about going to the bathroom, intent on bringing out the surprise.

And then… the real surprise happened.

A sense of surprise and fluctuating happiness again.

“Happiness value +30.”

“Happiness value -20.”

“Happiness value +5.”

“Happiness value -10.”

……

If not for the happiness value swinging up and down, it would be impossible to tell that the expression of Film Emperor Jiang, a mix of surprise and emotion was more complicated than it seemed.

A series of prompts almost made Shen Qi tense.

Looking expectantly at Jiang Changshen tasting the food, Shen Qi took the opportunity to observe the man’s appearance. He kept a coy, shy smile on his face as he was complimented.

The numbers wavered for almost a minute. Finally, the final result was calculated: a happiness value of 26.

It had only gone up by five points.

Shen Qi: *bangs head against the floor*

‘Big Brother, how difficult are you?!’

Looked like the attacking the target through nostalgia hadn’t worked.

It hadn’t been unproductive, though. At least he knew that Jiang Changshen’s unhappiness was 80% related to his family. Life was all about family, friendship and love. Based on his knowledge of Jiang Changshen and the results of the attempts so far, the problem had to lie with his family relationship.

It seems that something relating to Jiang Changshen’s parents, especially something that could have happened in his childhood, would need to be overturned and revisited.

But the good news was that after this attempt, Jiang Changshen had become significantly closer to him. It seemed that even if the happiness level hadn’t increased much, the amount of goodwill had increased a lot.

Shen Qi was now experiencing the difference between this mission and his previous ones. In the past it had just been about ‘attacking the target’, which used to be just a matter of increasing the target’s goodwill, but this time it had switched to happiness value, which was more different than it seemed. The difficulty had also multiplied. It was no wonder the team leader had wept and said only Shen Qi could do it.

But Shen Qi loved a challenge. The harder it was, the more he liked it. Rather than being deterred, he was doubly interested and eager to try.

Lunch was very satisfying for everyone. The three regular members were content, the guests were satisfied, and the show was full of scenes to watch and material to work with.

After dinner, it was announced that they could take a three-hour break.

After lunch came the hottest part of the summer day. The staff couldn’t easily stand in the sun for hours on end, not to mention few celebrities could handle such heat. Even worse, for the sake of effect there was no air conditioning in the house, only an old-fashioned fan that made a lot of noise.

Liang Yu was old, so he just sprawled out on his bed with the fan blowing after dinner.

At the beginning, Xie Jun was with Shen Qi and Jiang Changshen in the small bedroom, chattering quietly, talking non-stop, but eventually he yawned and went back to take a nap.

Shen Qi and Jiang Changshen were the only two people left in the room.

Without Xie Jun’s buzzing attitude, the atmosphere calmed instantly.

Shen Qi was intent on making conversation, but upon finding himself alone with Jiang Changshen so suddenly, he couldn’t think of what to say. What if he mentioned the wrong thing?

He thought hard about the interviews he knew about, searching for a good conversation starter.

Jiang Changshen tapped the beer can in his hand. He’d gotten it when they had asked the staff for cold beers to beat the heat as according to Xie Jun, what was a conversation without alcohol?

“You like me, right?”

Jiang Changshen had been a cheerful presence since they met.

He always seemed to be smiling, to be gentle and accommodating, but his current smile reminded Shen Qi of four words: Like an unamused smile.

He stared, his eyes full of astonishment. Then dark red stained his ears and quickly spread to his cheeks. “You, you, you…”

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Who would say something like this?! Had he heard that right?

Had Jiang Changshen read his mind?

What did he mean by that? Could it be…?

He was torn, apprehensive, and felt a small tinge of amusement.

Jiang Changshen gently shook the beer can as he leant against the wall. His posture was idle as if he were holding a red wine glass. He smiled with a raised eyebrow. “Aren’t you? I thought you were a fan of mine.”

Shen Qi’s expression turned rigid, the thoughts rushing through his head instantly calming. Quite late to elaborate, wasn’t it?

“Yeah, I’m really a fan of yours.” He blinked away the disappointment in his eyes. Reluctantly—a little testily, even—he added: “I like you a lot; I’ve liked you for the past eight years. I’ve watched every movie you’ve ever done, I have all the magazine posters, and I’m so happy to know I’m going to be on this show with you!”

“Thank you.” Jiang Changshen smiled sincerely. “You’re not bad either. Work hard from now on; it’s only a matter of time before you become popular.”

Inwardly, Shen Qi was disappointed, but no matter what, it was already a dream come true to receive recognition and praise from one’s idol, and a smile couldn’t stop creeping onto his lips.

“I’ll work hard and won’t let Brother Jiang down!”

Jiang Changshen raised his beer can and made a clinking gesture. Shen Qi busily picked up the one in front of him and took the initiative to knock it against Jian Changshen’s. He then took a big sip.

He was an average drinker. He had had three cans earlier in the conversation and this was the fourth. The previously red from his previous shyness was fading as if he’d been covered in powder, as if he had been steamed.

Some mechanism seemed to have unlocked in the tipsy Shen Qi. He rambled on and on, speaking and unwittingly rubbing up against Jiang Changshen.

“…Brother Jiang, what kind of…person do you like?”

He wanted to ask what kind of girl, but he had a personal agenda, so he stayed vague on gender.

Jiang Changshen didn’t stop him from getting close, even holding Shen Qi up as he tilted over. That left them side by side with Jiang Changshen against the wall. His fingers withdrew from Shen Qi’s shoulders and happened to trace across the corners of the young man’s lips, down his cheeks and outward, finally grazing the pink area of one of his ears. He watched as the sensitive ear trembled.

He smiled silently, and his gaze lingered for a second on the tip of that ear and on the boy’s somewhat misty eyes.

“I like…”

The young man immediately looked over at him, his eyes suddenly much clearer, waiting for his answer.

“Initiative.”

Huh?

Shen Qi’s booze was half gone in an instant.

Shouldn’t it be words like big eyes, long hair and white skin? What did it mean, ‘initiative’?

Jiang Changshen spread his hands out, looking slightly embarrassed. “Can’t help it, you know. In a profession like ours, with a busy year and not a lot of free time, even if you like someone, you don’t have the time or privacy to chase after the other person, in case it causes trouble and backfires.”

He seemed troubled and had had too much wine; enough to confide in Shen Qi.

It was a rare opportunity and the atmosphere was perfect. Shen Qi had gotten an inch, so now he would try and take a mile.

“So is Brother Jiang looking for someone inside or outside the entertainment circle?”

He was all tense, and his hand was tightly gripping the beer can. The can made a sound as his hand loosened.

“I’d…” Jiang Changshen took a sip of his beer. “I’d just go with the flow, follow fate.”

Shen Qi was stuck on those words. What did follow the fate mean? Was it good news for him? He wanted to take the conversation further but was afraid of going too far. After all, they weren’t close enough to talk about certain topics.

Jiang Changshen put down his beer can and pushed him aside by his shoulder. “We can’t drink any more. It’s still early, so get some sleep. You have a busy night ahead of you.”

Shen Qi was unprepared and went down with force. Jiang Changshen pushed him down, stifling a laugh at his dumbfounded appearance.

Such a posture, at such a close distance…

Shen Qi’s face became bright red.

Jiang Changshen narrowed his eyes. His body pressed down, faintly smelling of alcohol, and then a little further down, until their breaths intertwined.

Shen Qi’s eyelashes trembled violently.

His fingers instinctively gripped the corners of his coat. Did… ?

“You want to sleep on the inner side?” Jiang Changshen’s smiling tone interrupted his musings. Jiang Changshen suddenly stretched out his long legs and briefly straddled Shen Qi, so that they were face to face, then shifted off of him to the outer side of the bed. “Then I’ll sleep on the outer one.”

Shen Qi’s entire body tensed, as if stung by a scorpion. He rolled over with a whoosh, lying curled up on his side and facing the wall.

This was simply… It was…

It was humiliating!

He couldn’t turn around even if his idol would think he was rude!

He couldn’t believe he… He couldn’t believe…

He couldn’t believe there had been a reaction!

With just a small gesture, without even being touched, he’d reacted…

He hadn’t been able to wait to curl up like a shrimp. Hopefully his idol would stop paying attention.

Yet how could Jiang Changshen not notice such a big movement? He looked over the young man’s shoulder at the exposed ears and neck, all red. There was amusement in his eyes. He slid his fingers twice over the bent spine of the teenager, his expression meaningful.

Jiang Changshen had stirred up a pool of gentle spring water. He went to sleep on his own, leaving Shen Qi tossing and turning. Shen Qi stared at the white wall with a stiff body for nearly half an hour before he couldn’t handle the drunkenness that surged up and fell asleep.

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