Love Rival Is Getting Prettier Everyday - Chap 145

Chapter 145: Vinegar is Coming
The two of them chatted until the early hours of the morning. Shen Jintai was exhausted and gradually became sleepy. When his feet were mostly warm, Yan Qiuchi let go and said, “Go to sleep.”

Shen Jintai immediately laid down, and Yan Qiuchi laid next to him and said, “What do you think about my human body heater? I will warm you every day from now on.”

Shen Jintai gave him a tired smile and said, “I’m afraid you’ll get angry*.”

*Double entendre. (上火) describes someone who gets “heated up” in the sense of getting angry, but it also means someone who suffers from excessive internal heat.

Yan Qiuchi lit up upon hearing this. He restrained his smile, but his eyes were beaming. His face grew taunt, and his lips pursed. He looked at Shen Jintai as energy filled him as if he were about to pounce.

“You should know,” Yan Qiuchi said. After speaking, he hugged Shen Jintai tightly, as if something had suddenly exploded. He made a muffled groan similar to a coquettish sound and buried his head into Shen Jintai’s neck.

Shen Jintai said, “What did I say!”

“You are mine,” Yan Qiuchi said, “The object of my desire is lying in bed, and all we do is talk without doing anything else. Is this in line with the laws of nature?”

Laws of nature my ass!

Shen Jintai said, “Ah, yes, don’t easily agree to lie on the same bed as your desire, then say it’s my fault.”

He smiled and pushed against Yan Qiuchi’s body with both hands and feet, but Yan Qiuchi caught his ankles, causing the entire bed to move and slam into the bedside table. Half of Yan Qiuchi’s body fell off the bed, leaving his feet dangling in the air, looking quite unscrupulous.

In the end, Yan Qiuchi was still a novice and couldn’t release all his inhibitions. He was also afraid that he was being too presumptuous and that Shen Jintai wouldn’t accept him, so he lifted the blanket and plunged into it. He was just teasing Shen Jintai. After a while, the two stopped making trouble, and they were both sweating. He hugged Shen Jintai and kissed him on the cheek and said, “Go to sleep. If you make trouble again, I’ll really be angry.”

However, he wouldn’t just hug him and then go to sleep. He laid a deep kiss on him as they lay by each other’s sides, but the style was different from last time, which felt as if he was gobbling Shen Jintai up. This time, it was more lingering and softer, quite like what a warm lover’s kiss should be.

“I may not be able to sleep if I don’t hold you in the future,” he said to Shen Jintai. “I don’t know why. I have always slept alone, but if I don’t hold you, I will feel uncomfortable. I had always wanted to hold something since I was a child.”

In fact, he still wasn’t satisfied. Because of his skin hunger, the thing he wanted was skin-to-skin contact, and they were both still wearing pajamas. One day, these pajamas will be taken off.

—

Shen Jintai and Yan Qiuchi had confirmed their relationship, so Yan Tiefeng felt that everyone should have a meal together. There was no need to explain things. It was simply a casual meal to express their support for the couple.

Mrs. Yan, of course, was delighted. “Last time I had dinner with Mrs. Zhao, the restaurant they chose was pretty good. The chef is famous, and it’s also close to the hotel where they are staying right now.”

Yan Tiefeng asked, “Qiuchi been staying in a hotel recently?”

“He’s only stayed for a few days. You get the moon first when you’re near the water tower*. Can’t you see? Isn’t he able to get it?”

*Metaphor for getting benefits or convenience because of being close to the person/thing.

Yan Tiefeng smiled and said, “How is laoer? I haven’t seen him call me recently.”

Mrs. Yan told him about his transfer. Yan Tiefeng was shocked and said, “I didn’t know anything about this.”

Mrs. Yan: “You’re not home all day. What can you know?”

“Isn’t it our wedding anniversary in two days? I want to free up a few days to spend time with you. I have been busy recently,” Yan Tiefeng said. “I think Qiuchi’s new company has done a great job, and the shareholders recognize him. In two years, I will start to hand over the burden to him. At that time, Yaoxuan will also graduate. If I can help him a little bit, I’ll be able to take a break. At that time, I’ll spend more time with you at home until you get bored.”

“Oh please. Others can’t be free, and you can’t be idle either,” Mrs. Yan said. “Don’t worry about Yaoxuan’s affairs. Qiuchi has always been in charge of him. Since he switched schools, he’ll deduct his living expenses. After a while, I’ll fly over to visit him. There’s nothing to worry about. Qiuchi is stricter with him.”

Yan Tiefang’s company was too large, keeping his plate full. He couldn’t even get through all his meetings in an entire day, and he sleeps on average four to five hours a day. Even his meals were all business-related. It was quite troublesome for him to take time out for this dinner. Mrs. Yan first confirmed the time with him, then called Yan Qiuchi and Shen Jintai to confirm their availability. It was truly hard to set up a dinner for three people who were so busy.

Fortunately, Shen Jintai’s current project was with Sunshine Media, which gave Yan Qiuchi a lot of say in his schedule. Shen Jintai’s shooting itinerary was relatively easy to change, and it was finally determined for Friday night.

The next morning, only Xiao Tang and the others came, as Li Meilan had other plans. Wang Nan found that Shen Jintai’s lips were swollen again, just not as much as last time. Shen Jintai felt embarrassed. He didn’t understand why Yan Qiuchi loved kissing so much. It was as if he couldn’t get enough of it, so he kissed him incessantly until he fell asleep.

—

“Cut!” Qiu Hong stood up. “Jintai, come here.”

Shen Jintai walked over, thinking that there was something wrong with the shot. When he came over, Qiu Hong gently pulled on his collar, gave it a quick glance, and then gave him a sly smile.

Shen Jintai turned instantly red and hurriedly pulled up his collar.

“Give him a new look.” Qiu Hong didn’t reveal anything. “Change it to a turtleneck sweater.”

The people behind the monitor all knew, but they were afraid of embarrassing Shen Jintai, so they all turned a blind eye. When the closeup shot was done just now, the camera caught a hickey that was on Shen Jintai’s neck. From afar, it would be fine, but when it was zoomed in close, anyone could recognize what it was at a glance.

Shen Jintai knew he was busted. He texted Yan Qiuchi, scolding him. It wasn’t Yan Qiuchi’s fault, though, as he didn’t do it on purpose. As a novice, he just didn’t know how to kiss. He had always respected Shen Jintai’s career as an actor and knew that he was always diligent about his privacy. He, too, didn’t want others to see what he and Shen Jintai did in private.

He could only apologize profusely and say he would never do it again, but he avoided the issue by saying he would not kiss the neck but didn’t mention anything below it.

Since the scene setting was indoors, it would look too weird if Shen Jintai wore a scarf, so the turtleneck sweater was a better option. However, once he put it on the sweater, Qiu Hong thought he looked too handsome in it, so he asked to mess up the stage a bit and dim the lights before reshooting.

The scene they were filming was him cooking dinner and then having a meal together with his father. The atmosphere was depressing. The desolation in the room reflected the relationship between father and son. Just as Xu Duhai was about to take his medicine, Xu Xingchen picked it up to look at it.

Xu Dahai finally spoke and said, “You don’t need to come back.”

Xu Xingchen was taken aback for a moment, then was silent for a while as he fidgeted with the medicine bottle in his hand before saying, “You’re always like this.”

“That’s how I am. Don’t see me if you don’t want to hear what I have to say.” Xu Dahai said. “Why did you even come? What’s the use?”

“Didn’t you have a son so you could just pass on your legacy?” Xu Xingchen said, “The legacy may not continue, but you can still raise a family until the end. It was you who wanted to sever our relationship, but I have still always regarded you as my father.”

There was no awkwardness in his words, which had a hint of irony but were warm.

Xu Dahai said, “What about that Sun kid? Why didn’t he come back with you?”

Xu Xingchen: “If he came, would you let him into the house?”

“Too ashamed to face me?” Xu Dahai said.

Xu Xingchen got up when he heard those words and began cleaning up the dishes. He was angry, but he held back. He harshly threw all the dishes into the sink, loudly turned the faucet on, and slammed his hand onto the sink table without saying a word.

“If you don’t want to come back, don’t come back and show your face to me!” Xu Dahai roared in the living room.

As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Xingchen rushed out of the kitchen. Xu Dahai subconsciously shivered as he leaned back slightly; he looked angry but had a trace of fear as he saw Xu Xingchen directly open the door and walk out, slamming the door loudly behind him. Xu Dahai sat alone motionless in his chair, and after sitting for a long time, he suddenly moved again, as if distracted, and then his mind became clear again.

Shen Jintai thought Cai Jun was really good at acting. He played an old man with a weird temper and a strong personality who had become a little fragile due to aging and disease.

This was a father and son who had complicated feelings for each other. It had cracked to the point of hatred, yet they still care about each other. Their relationship fell apart because of the son’s unchangeable sexual orientation, but finally reached a reconciliation because of the father’s illness and imminent death. Thinking about it, it was quite sad.

“Let’s have a meal together tonight.” Cai Jun said and asked Shen Jintai, “Do you have time?”

“No problem,” Shen Jintai said with a smile.

Cai Jun patted him on the shoulder. “The relationship between father and son is about to ease, and it’s time for us to make contact with our feelings.”

He and Cai Jun had met a few times and shared a few meals before filming started. Later, because of their estranged feelings of the father and son on set, the two rarely contacted each other outside the studio. Shen Jintai occasionally felt the two of them were too unfamiliar and feared that they wouldn’t act well when the father and son reached the reconciliation stage.

“Would you like to report to President Yan?” Cai Jun joked.

However, Shen Jintai really did have to tell Yan Qiuchi, as he was waiting for them to have dinner together. They both have busy lives, so the only time they could usually meet was in the evening. Shen Jintai felt that if they only met in bed, things wouldn’t progress very well. It wouldn’t seem like a normal relationship, so they should meet as often as possible in normal circumstances.

He considered whether to call Yan Qiuchi.

“Who is going?” He asked Cai Jun.

Cai Jun said, “You, me, the director, and your boss.”

His boss being Ji Fengxing. Ji Fengxing and Cai Jun had a good relationship as they were old friends, and he was the one who was able to pull Cai Jun into this movie. Thinking about the sour relationship between Ji Fengxing and Yan Qiuchi, he decided not to tell Yan Qiuchi yet.

On the way to dinner, Shen Jintai called Yan Qiuchi, who hadn’t gotten off work yet. He asked him where he was going.

Yan Qiuchi: “Why don’t I host and invite Cai Jun and Qiu Hong to have a meal.” This was also his way of showing support to Shen Jintai, and Cai Jun and Qiu Hong already both knew about their relationship.

“I heard that this time it’s President Ji’s treat,” Shen Jintai said. “You two don’t quite get along with each other.”

Sure enough, as soon as Yan Qiuchi heard the words “President Ji”, his tone became more subtle. “He’s quite courteous.”

He asked for the specific address again, and Shen Jintai said, “Are you really coming?”

“I’ll pick you up after you finish,” Yan Qiuchi said.

The author has something to say:

In the previous chapter, someone asked about vinegar, so, vinegar is here.