Love Rival Is Getting Prettier Everyday - Chap 131
Chapter 131: Welcome Rain on a Spring Night Starts Filming
Xu Xingchen was on the way to a bar to get drunk when he suddenly received a call from his old neighbor. His lover, Sun Mingzhi, who had been living with him for ten years, seems to have cheated. He had an inkling, but he didn’t dare confirm it. In his current state, he received a call from Aunt Zhao, who hadn’t contacted him for many years, but the voice was still familiar. She said, “Your father is sick. Can you come back and see him? If you don’t come soon… it may be too late.”
Xu Xingchen had not seen his father in ten years. When he came out of the closet to be with Sun Mingzhi, Xu Duhai, who was conservative, couldn’t accept this shocking revelation and severed ties between them.
Now, after a decade, the situation had turned quite ironic.
He ran all the way home, only slowing down when he was about to reach it. He panted as he looked up, taking in the sight of an old community that didn’t even have a single streetlamp installed. It was dark, and there were only a few families who had their lights turned on. He walked through the darkness, feeling as if he’d been a failure all these years.
Back in their rental house, Sun Mingzhi was cooking dinner. When he saw Xu Xingchen coming back, he smiled and said, “You came back early today.”
Xu Xingchen gave a “Nn” then lowered his head and took off his shoes. When he saw Sun Mingzhi, his nose instantly soured. He wanted to tell him about his father, but he held back. In the end, he only said, “I’m going back to my hometown tomorrow.”
“Home?” Sun Mingzhi said in surprise.
“Nn. The neighbor, Aunt Zhao, said that my dad’s condition may not be well.”
Sun Mingzhi was silent for a moment, then gave him a hug. It felt warm and familiar. “How long will you be gone?”
“I don’t know.” Xu Xingchen bent over and put away the newspaper on the coffee table, then turned and entered the bedroom.
“Dinner will be served soon!” Sun Mingzhi said.
Xu Xingchen sat down on the bed. After sitting in the dark for a long time, he suddenly laid on the bed with his abdomen covered. When Sun Mingzhi heard him groaning from pain, he rushed in, turned on the light, and saw Xu Xingcheng curled up on the bed with a pale face.
“You’re having stomach problems again?” Sun Mingzhi went to get him medicine, then rubbed his stomach as Xu Xingchen laid on the bed in a daze.
“Cut!” Qiu Hong said.
Shen Jintai sat up from the bed, sat behind the monitor, and watched the replay. Zhou Yun, the actor who played Sun Mingzhi, said, “Everything is fine. I don’t think it’s true at all. Jintai is so handsome that I couldn’t believe he would do something like this.”
Qiu Hong said, “Whether someone cheats or not, has nothing to do with whether the person is good-looking. It’s human nature that dictates.”
“What I don’t understand even more is why we don’t break up,” Shen Jintai said.
“You will know when you have been with someone for ten years,” Qiu Hong said.
“In ten years, there’s not only love but also affection, so while the other party is cheating, he’s not cheating emotionally*. Ten years of developed feelings can’t be easily broken,” Cai Jun, who was sitting next to Qiu Hong, said. “Even if they break up, the next one may not be better. The two of them still have feelings, and Sun Mingzhi still loves Xu Xingchen. This kind of situation is common in reality. In fact, many married couples will eventually encounter this problem more or less, and everyone will basically choose to turn a blind eye to it. It’s not that they don’t care, but they choose to compromise with life.”
*Clarity: Technically, when someone cheats, there’s a physical and emotional component that are not necessarily mutually exclusive. You can emotionally cheat without the physical aspect and vice versa, and sometimes it includes both. Cai Jun is saying in this case it’s the latter, as Sun Mingzhi still loves Xu Xingchen.
“Stuck in the throat*,” Shen Jintai said.
*(如鲠在喉) Metaphor that refers to a fish bone being stuck in your throat. It means there’s something in your heart that you don’t say, so it feels extremely uncomfortable.
“That’s what I want,” Qiu Hong said.
Qiu Hong’s shooting technique was completely different from that of several directors he had worked with in the past. His shots focused on realism, and many of them deliberately created a slightly shaking movement. The whole film, whether it was the set or the costumes, tried its best to create a rough atmosphere that reflected the lives of ordinary people, making the plot trivial and homely.
The character Xu Xingchen was also introverted and taciturn. Qiu Hong described him as a person who “rarely cry”, a man who could endure.
The beginning of the story was depressing, as the characters’ feelings were too realistic. Shen Jintai’s acting was also gloomy, which caused him to be in a low mood after filming. Zhou Yun chased after him and shouted, “Jintai!”
Shen Jintai turned his head and nodded at him.
Zhou Yun was timid around such a big star. “Do you have any opinions on me… If you have, you must tell me. I…”
“No, no,” Shen Jintai said. “You misunderstood.”
He tried his best to ignore Zhou Yun on set in order to cultivate emotions. There was already a rift between their characters, and Xu Xingcheng, who suffered silently, didn’t voice his feelings and kept them bottled up.
“That’s good,” Zhou Yun said. “Then I won’t bother you.”
Shen Jintai smiled and got into the car. Li Meilan, who was in the car, said, “Seeing him reminds me of Zheng Siqi.”
He had the same feeling of caution and inexperience that usually comes from a newcomer. However, Zhou Yun wasn’t a newcomer. He was 30 but hadn’t made a name for himself in the industry. Shen Jintai was very fond of the casting for his role. His face was ordinary, but on the handsomer side that was a little above average, which matched the ideal tone of the trivial realism that the drama was trying to create and was the kind of face that was appealing to ordinary passersby.
Li Meilan: “President Ji had made reservations with Siqi and said he wanted to have dinner with you.”
Shen Jintai said, “Where?”
“Close to where we’re staying,” Li Meilan said. “It seems that other colleagues will be there as well.”
“Then I’ll go,” Shen Jintai said. “It’s been a long time since I saw Siqi. Hasn’t he been filming in the Republic of China Film and Television City?”
“He came back to participate in a promotional event. He just signed an endorsement.”
Like Bai Qingquan, Zheng Siqi had a good image, so he had many endorsements.
When he sat down in the car, he took out his phone and discovered that Zheng Siqi had sent him a message earlier. Despite being in the same company, they both had full schedules, so they had few opportunities to meet. After wrapped up, the three had kept talking about getting together for dinner, but their schedules never aligned.
“It’s been a long time since I saw you.” Shen Jintai hugged Zheng Siqi and then shook Ji Fengxing’s hand.
Ji Fengxing returned the handshake and said, “Come sit.”
The conversation during dinner mainly revolved around work. Shen Jintai and Zheng Siqi posted on Weibo during dinner, kicking up a storm for Jintai Qiongyin fans. It’s been a long time since the two of them gave some sugar to the CP fans.
“Both have become even bigger stars than when they filmed The East Palace. Will they cooperate again? It’s best if they work together on a modern drama. The past life couldn’t be chase, so they will meet again in this life, ahhhhhhhhh~.”
“The way the two of them came out of the restaurant together was really an immortal CP. Although Touhua and Bai Yueguang have been hotly fried recently, I still feel Zheng Siqi is a better CP match.”
“I also think the two of them have a more CP sense. Have you noticed that Zheng Siqi looks a bit like Yan Qiuchi?”
“They really do look similar.”
“People keep saying that, but Zheng Siqi looks more handsome than Prince Yan and is younger, which is more in line with Shen Jintai.”
“Touhua has so many good CP, but Jintai Qiongying will always be a cinnabar mole in my heart!”
“I really want to see the two of them fall in love in reality.”
Of course, a Shen Jintai related post would have gold powder lurking about. If they had seen Yan Qiuchi’s name anywhere related to Shen Jintai, they would have immediately shouted “no appointment!” but now seeing his name no longer pains them.
Yan Qiuchi had been relentlessly chasing Shen Jintai for a few months now, to the point of being upside down, but did their brother agree to his pursuit? No!
He had become an existence they could no longer care about, as the probability of Shen Jintai falling again was slim to none. They didn’t even need to lift a finger as Zheng Siqi’s fans alone could tear him apart.
Zheng Siqi’s fans were called fresh powders, which meant “seeing others better than you and trying to be his equal*”. He later relied on an idol drama to suck up chicken blood from his younger fans, growing his fanbase to an outstanding size that should not be underestimated since his rise to fame from The East Palace. When the fresh powders saw that their brother was being compared to someone, they immediately reacted! WTF! Their brother was unique and not similar to anyone at all!
*(见贤思齐) Idiom meaning seeing a talented person and thinking of being equal to him. The siqi in the saying is the same character of Siqi in Zheng Siqi (思齐).
However, Zheng Siqi had been compared to Prince Yan multiple times in the past, making him look as if he were an alt to Yan Qiuchi. This was all because of Shen Jintai, but the fanbase didn’t dare to tear into each other since the relationship between Shen Jintai and Zheng Siqi has always been good, so they focused their fire and aimed it at Yan Qiuchi instead.
With the rise of Zheng Siqi’s status, the fresh powders could no longer bear to have their brother constantly be compared so some devotees made a data chart that listed out every little detail between Yan Qiuchi and Zheng Siqi, then rubbed Shen Jintai’s popularity and bought a hot search called: [Shen Jintai’s CP physique.]
The hot search was cleverly done, so it was impossible to see the forces behind it. The post contained comparisons of many of Shen Jintai’s CP pairings, from Bai Qingquan to Zheng Siqi to Yan Qiuchi, and even other popular pairings that were all edited by other fans. The other pairings were mainly there to pad the numbers, while Bai Qingquan was there to carry the sedan chair, as the main point of the post was to compare Zheng Siqi and Yan Qiuchi*.
*Clarity: Basically, what they did was make a comparison chart between Zheng Siqi and Yan Qiuchi and bought a hot search for it. However, to disguise the post so that people wouldn’t find out it was from the fresh powders, they added other CPs of Shen Jintai so netizens would think this was a post comparing Shen Jintai’s CP and not what the actual aim was, making a clear distinction between Zheng Siqi and Yan Qiuchi so that people would stop saying Zheng Siqi is like Prince Yan.
Yan Qiuchi was unconditionally crushed. Even his height of 1.9 meters was ridiculed for being too tall for a man. “If you grow this tall, you’ll never be popular in the entertainment industry.”
As for being young and promising. “Please, if I were Yan Tiefang’s son, I might be better than him! Isn’t it normal to stand half a head higher than others when he’s on the shoulders of a giant?”
Not only had fresh powders stepped on him, but Jintai Qiongying’s CP fans had also joined in with the gold powders occasionally adding to the fuel and vinegar.
The CP fans of Qiuchi Yingjintai started to fight back, and Jintai Meijing CP fans came to fan the flames.
Shen Jintai’s CP were mainly Zheng Siqi, Bai Qingquan, and Yan Qiuchi. However, the status of the three CPs was very different. Jintai Qiongying relied on the phenomenon-level of a national drama and prided itself on its status as the imperial palace. Jintai Meijing originally was unknown but later was raised to the level of a concubine due to . As for Qiuchi Yingjintai, gold powders and the other two CP fans classified it as a crab-footed CP, which had no status or fame and at most would count as a housemaid*.
*Clarity: Basically, the 3 CPs of Shen Jintai have levels based on the imperial order of ancient China. Jintai Qiongying was the OG so it’s like the imperial palace itself. Jintai Meijing rose to concubine level due to Bai Qingquan and Shen Jintai filming together for . Qiuchi Yingjintai is trash tier and could maybe be considered as a housemaid in the imperial palace at best.
While CP fans fought each other online, little did they know that Yan Qiuchi, the housemaid, had taken advantage of his position as president of a large company and used it to chase after his wife by arranging for the crew of to stay at his family-owned hotel, renting out the entire 22nd floor.
When Shen Jintai, Li Meilan, and the others got out of the elevator, they saw Fang Yun coming out of room 2202. Li Meilan whispered to Shen Jintai, “He’s here! He’s here! He’s here again with sugar-coated cannonballs.”
Seeing Shen Jintai, Fang Yun held back her excitement and greeted them. “I’m here to deliver documents to President Yan.”
She didn’t know much about the relationship between Shen Jintai and Yan Qiuchi, and she didn’t dare ask. All she knew was that the entire crew of had been arranged to stay at this hotel, but Shen Jintai was the only one who lived on the same floor as her boss.
Have they started a secret relationship?
She was so, so, so excited and wanted to know! Unable to resist, she imagined a scene of her boss knocking on the door to Shen Jintai’s room in the dead of night.
The author has something to say:
Okay, the scenes you’re imagining will be arranged right away.
