Chapter 25: Save the Hero Holding the corners of an adult’s clothes like a child made Shen Jintai’s heart felt safe. The grip was tight, and Yan Qiuchi couldn’t turn around even if he wanted to. He was thoroughly caught. Yan Qiuchi suspected Shen Jintai was only pretending to be drunk. “President Yan…” The waiter hesitated to come forward. Yan Qiuchi originally wanted the waiter to take Shen Jintai back to his room, or call Shen Jintai’s assistant over, but giving his current situation, he couldn’t move. He didn’t want to break Shen Jintai’s hand in front of everybody, so he resigned to his fate. He hesitated and then with a cold face picked up Shen Jintai. The crowd of onlookers gave way. After picking him up, Yan Qiuchi realized that he didn’t know which room Shen Jintai was staying in. There were many celebrities tonight due to the banquet and each of them had their own rooms. Asking the front desk now would only attract more attention and create trouble. He needed to take Shen Jintai away first. He carried Shen Jintai to the elevator. “21st floor.” The waiter hurriedly pressed the elevator button for Yan Qiuchi and hesitated whether he should follow them or not. He knew about the entanglements between Yan Qiuchi and Shen Jintai. He decided to follow them. As the elevator door was closing, he clasped his hand together, tiptoe slightly, becoming both excited and tormented at his decision, and vaguely heard Shen Jintai let out: “Nnn,” as he was twisting his body inside Yan Qiuchi’s embrace. Holy shit! Holy shit! He pursed his lips and looked up as the numbers on the elevator slowly ascend. He then heard Yan Qiuchi say coldly: “Hold still for a minute.” Shen Jintai immediately obeyed. Wow, wow, wow! An overbearing president and a hot star! The waiter saw Yan Qiuchi carry Shen Jintai into his room. He felt sad that he couldn’t continue to follow Yan Qiuchi. It seems that the relationship between the two of them isn’t as bad as rumors has it.
Yan Qiuchi put Shen Jintai on the sofa and found that Shen Jintai was still clutching the corners of his clothes. Now out of sight of everyone’s eyes, he stretched out his hands and pried Shen Jintai’s fingers off him. Though try as he might, he couldn’t get Shen Jintai to let go. Yan Qiuchi: “Let go.” Shen Jintai let of a soft groan that sounded very sorrowful. When Shen Jintai had chased him in the past, he also pretended to be drunk before. Yan Qiuchi would always send him home resulting in Shen Jintai screaming, shouting, and hollering all the way back. It was obvious back then he was faking it, given his violent and aggressive behavior. Looking at the Shen Jintai in front of him now, the sounds felt weaker and had a sultrier feeling, as if it was consumed by the alcohol and the body no longer obey the owner’s will. Yan Qiuchi face darken: “Drinking too much will make you go crazy.” Shen Jintai face was still covered in tears. He had to put on makeup for the occasion today since he was going to be on camera. He started rubbing his face smearing it everywhere, showing a extremely pitiful scene. Yan Qiuchi hadn’t look at this face seriously for many years. In the past, his face was covered with brilliant colors full of longing. Now it had returned to its original appearance showing beautiful facial features and a strange sense of fragility. The only difference was his lips were extremely rosy and the face faintly flushed from the wine. It was very alluring. To break free from Shen Jintai, Yan Qiuchi took off his coat. After catching his breath, he called his assistant, Gao Qiao: “Contact Shen Jintai’s agent and ask her to come to my room.” Assistant Qiao hurriedly contacted Li Meilan. Li Meilan was busily swiping Weibo. They had expected that Shen Jintai would be torn apart by moonlight powder tonight but unexpectedly he got a lot of praises. It was really surprising. Her phone suddenly rang. She connected her phone and said joyfully: “Hello, this is Li Meilan.” “Hello, I’m Assistant Qiao from Sunshine Media. President Yan wants you to go to his room. He’s staying in room 2109.”
The relationship between Li Meilan and Yan Qiuchi was tense because of Shen Jintai. She asked warily: “President Yan personally called for me?” Assistant Qiao was also very puzzled*: “Yes.” *Clarity: as in he too was also confused why Yan Qiuchi would ask for Shen Jintai’s agent. Li Meilan nervously came to the door of room 2109 and knocked. Yan Qiuchi opened the door. He was wearing a white shirt with sleeves rolled up: “Come in.” Li Meilan bowed and cautiously entered the door. As soon as she entered, she saw Shen Jintai lying on the sofa clinging to his coat. Fuck! Isn’t this the coat that President Yan was wearing tonight?! Li Meilan blushed and turned pale. She didn’t know what was going on. She really had nothing to do with this. It’s useless to interrogate her! “He drank too much.” Yan Qiuchi said: “You can take care of him here.” Li Meilan hurried over and patted Shen Jintai. Shen Jintai didn’t react at all. He was fast asleep. There was another knock at the door. Yan Qiuchi went to open the door and in came Assistant Qiao carrying a coat. When he saw Li Meilan and Shen Jintai inside, he was so shocked he almost dropped the coat in his hands. His eyes widened as he handed Yan Qiuchi the coat. Damn this Shen Jintai! As soon as they dropped their guard, he becomes entangle with President Yan again! President Yan was definitely pissed. He gave Yan Qiuchi a cautious glance.
Yan Qiuchi put on his coat, turned around and said to Li Meilan: “The room card is in the pocket of that coat in his hand. Just stay here and accompany him.” Li Meilan stood up quickly and nodded. She dared not ask what the fuck was going on. Li Meilan and Assistant Qiao gave each other an uncertain look as they left. After Yan Qiuchi and Assistant Qiao had left, Li Meilan immediately sat down on the sofa and patted Shen Jintai’s arm with a “slap”: “Shen Jintai, wake up!” Shen Jintai open his eyes in a dazed. Though he recognized her, he didn’t listen to her and said: “Sister Lan… fuck… somebody hit me.” Li Meilan: “…” Who hit you? Yan Qiuchi? How nice it is to be young! You’re all drunk and confused. She immediately called Xiao Tang: “Buy some hangover medicine and deliver it to Room 2109.” — Assitant Qiao followed Yan Qiuchi and entered the elevator. He couldn’t help but be curious. Relying on the fact that he was favored he asked: “President Yan, is Shen Jintai entangled with you again?”
Yan Qiuchi’s face was gloomy: “Many people saw that I carried him up to the room. If this gets out, let the public relations department handle it.” Assistant Qiao nodded, knowing that Yan Qiuchi didn’t want to say anything more. Yan Qiuchi’s throat bobbed, his thin lips curled and tightened, as he rubbed the palm of his right hand. He rarely had close contact with people. It was the first time he had ever princess carry someone. It felt very light. Shen Jintai was lighter than he thought, though he was 1.8 meters tall, he didn’t seem to have much meat on his body. But it would be inaccurate to say there was no meat. Since it was his first time carrying someone, he didn’t know the proper way to hold him, so he accidentally grabbed Shen Jintai’s ass with one of his hands. He never touched somebody’s ass before, so in that moment he was shocked. It was like watching an educational film* for the first time in his adolescence. His heart was pounding madly. Even if he hurried to move his hand away, he couldn’t dissipate the heat from the touch. He chalked it up simply drinking too much at tonight’s banquet. This momentary feeling had no deeper meaning. It simply showed he was just a normal man. He had no affection for Shen Jintai. *I’m not sure if there’s some kind of deeper implication to educational film (教育片). I suspect it might be referring to a sex-ed film. No one knew the truth about Shen Jintai’s harassment. The only person who knew the inside story was currently incapacitated. Assistant Qiao, who loves to gossip, wanted to get to the bottom of the matter and figured out what happened. He investigated it and learned through several witnesses that Shen Jintai got drunk and went crazy. He then ran into Yan Qiuchi who took him upstairs. Was it really that simple? Was Shen Jintai pretending to be drunk so he could hook up with President Yan? With a strong desire to explore the truth, Assistant Qiao decided to look at the surveillance camera. He wanted to figure out what tricks Shen Jintai was playing at. Just because the Yan family is cultured, doesn’t mean they could be easily taken advantage of*.
*Wipe the oil (揩油) = metaphor for taking advantage of others. I used the translated metaphor meaning instead to make it flow better. As a result, he was stunned when he saw the surveillance video. Fuck! Where did this wretched madman come from?! He even tried to take advantage of Shen Jintai! Based on what he saw, Shen Jintai was definitely drunk. Otherwise, he would have made the other man cry for his mother and father. The surveillance video was clear, showing the other party as a very handsome young man. He also wore expensive clothing, signifying he was either rich or an elite. Combined with the security at the hotel and those who could attend had to have an invitation, it was unlikely it was just a random unknown person who snuck in.
Though Assistant Qiao disliked Shen Jintai, he was still furious when he saw this kind of thing. He hesitated to tell Yan Qiuchi. Although Yan Qiuchi was involved in the entertainment industry, he rarely appears under the spotlight. The only reason so many people know of him is not because of his status as a member of the Yan family, but because of his association with Shen Jintai. When it comes to Yan Qiuchi, the most common thing everyone say is: “The man being chased by Shen Jintai.” He was an innocent party in the matter, but he couldn’t avoid getting dragged into the scandal anyways. Yan Qiuchi was reviewing the financial statements for the quarter when Assistant Qiao came to see him. When he saw Assistant Qiao come in, he threw the statements on the table and said: “Who did the statements this time? Did the accounting method change? Call them and have them redo it.” Assistant Qiao acknowledge it with a nod and picked up the financial statements. Yan Qiuchi raised his head and said: “Is something wrong?”
Assistant Qiao struggled internally for long while before saying: “I went to investigate the situation. It turns out Shen Jintai was really drunk and was being taken advantage of. I looked at the surveillance cameras.” Yan Qiuchi was flabbergasted. When he saw Shen Jintai, Shen Jintai was drunk and was acting erratic. “Who tried to take advantage of him?” Yan Qiuchi asked. Assistant Qiao: “I’m not sure. He looks a little familiar.” He stepped forward and handed over his phone. On it was a recording of the surveillance footage. Yan Qiuchi took the phone and watch it. His face got more and more sordid as he continued watching. Yan Qiuchi was a serious person. Though Shen Jintai annoyed him to death, he would never gloat or feel happy seeing the other party’s being bullied or taken advantage of. Assistant Qiao: “Do you know him?” Yan Quichi knew. It was the son of the Qian’s clan family head, Qian Jiashu. — After Qian Jiashu ran away, he felt afraid and regret. He was afraid that he would’ve gotten caught. Fortunately, no one was around, otherwise his reputation would’ve been over. He regretted that he didn’t take decisive action. At that time, a terrifying idea had sprouted in his heart. Wanting to take advantage of the fact that there was nobody around in the corridor, he wanted to take Shen Jintai away. If he had been firmer in his conviction, he might have succeeded. Hold the courageous to death, starve the cowardly*!
*Hold the courageous to death, starve the cowardly (撑死胆大饿死胆小) = proverb meaning the courage to take risks will gain many benefits, while a timid and cautious person often get little benefits. Shen Jintai was like an immortal* to him. He was so close to kissing a god! *Immortal/fairy [Shénxiān] (神仙) = referring to a celestial being. I also just realize that this term was also used to describe Bai Qingquan as well. The reference to this term isn’t so much to a fairy in the literal sense but more so that they are so beautiful that it transcends humankind and can only be comparable to a god/immortal/fairy/celestial being ect. I’ll still continue to refer to Bai Qingquan as a fairy since it does seem to match his characteristic and personality. Qian Jiashu tidied up his clothes and walked towards the exit of the hotel. Before he could reach the door, a security guard stopped him. Qian Jiashu frowned: “What are you doing?” “Mr. Qian,” Assistant Qiao who was nearby, put down the coffee in his hand, walked over with a smile and said: “President Yan have something to discuss with you. I’m sorry but we’ll have to delay you.” — Shen Jintai slept all night. When he woke up the next day, he had a splitting headache. He finally realized the limits of his alcohol tolerance now. He sat down on the side of the bed and found that he was still holding on to a coat in his hand. A vague memory appeared in his mind. He recalled that he had met Yan Qiuchi before losing consciousness. This seems to be Yan Qiuchi’s coat. Fuck. He quickly opened his blanket. He was wearing pajamas! Suddenly he became wide awake. He quickly got up out of the bed and rubbed his hair. Did he sleep with Yan Qiuchi? Why did does he have memories of sleeping with Yan Qiuchi? He vaguely remembered that his legs were wrapped around Yan Qiuchi’s shoulders.
Shen Jintai became numb all over. He couldn’t tell what was reality and what was a dream. He was about to take off his pajamas and go wash off when he saw a person coming in. He immediately wrapped the blanket around himself and rushed to the door. Xiao Tang pushed the door open heading inside while eating red bean paste with a spoon: “Brother Jin, you’re awake!” “Why are you here?” Shen Jintai looked at the strange and luxurious bedroom: “Where is this again?” Xiao Tang: “Brother Jin, you were drunk last night, and President Yan brought you to his room.” Shen Jintai was sluggish for half a minute. Fuck me, it wasn’t a dream! A burst of heat rose from his body as his face instantly turned red. He fell to his knees and rubbed his hair as he heard Li Meilan say: “Aren’t you quick to wake up. Have you forgotten to turn on the power today? Your face is red and puffy. How are you going to be able to film?” Xiao Tang whispered: “Brother Jin doesn’t have any scene on the first day.” Shen Jintai glanced up at Xiao Tang and Li Meilan: “You guys go out first while I shower.” Li Meilan said: “Your clothes have already been prepared. Wash up quickly. Even if you don’t have any scenes, you should still go to the filming site to get better acquainted with the environment.”
After the two of them went out, Shen Jintai got up. He didn’t know whether it was an illusion or his hangover, but he felt his legs were being disobedient. An image floated in his mind of his feet dangling on Yan Qiuchi’s shoulders. When he got to the bathroom, he didn’t even have the courage to check himself. As the water from the shower fell on him, his memory started to become clearer. After washing for a long time, he felt that all of it was unlikely. There was no soreness in his stomach. In the original novel, stomach swollenness and soreness were a consequence that always occurred after sleeping with Yan Qiuchi. “How long have you been here?” Shen Jintai was drying his hair as he came out of the bedroom. His expression remained calm: “Was I sent here by Yan Quichi?” “You drank so much that you don’t even know how you got here?” Li Meilan told him the situation yesterday: “When I received a call from his assistant, I was really confused.” “So he left after you came.” Shen Jintai sighed with relief. “Of course.” Li Meilan: “What did you want? For him to stay with you all night? Thinking about doing this and that?” Shen Jintai held his chest as he sat down on the sofa. It turned out to be a dream. Also, according to the ability of the male protagonist, if he really slept with Yan Qiuchi, the end result shouldn’t be like this. As a drunk person, it would have been impossible for him to top Yan Qiuchi. When two 1’s meet, there must be a 0. In front of Yan Qiuchi, he can only either be beaten or eaten.
He couldn’t believe he had a dream of sleeping with Yan Qiuchi. In his dream Yan Qiuchi also deliberately didn’t shave his beard and had rubbed all over him with his unshaven face. What a fucking dream! He remembered that when he was reading , he once threw bombs* and left a comment asking the author: “Can you have President Yan not shave for three days?” *Throwing bombs = system in jjwxc where readers can throw bombs to help increase a novel’s ranking. It a way that readers can thank the author and show support. The clever author understood in seconds and replied: “I have taken notes!” And that was the source of how such a scene came about. Thinking about his dream, Shen Jintai quickly covered his chest. Thank god he didn’t choose may cherry* as his reward. *Reminder: may cherry = nipples. The author has something to say: Just because you don’t choose now doesn’t mean you won’t choose in the future, young man.