Love Rival Is Getting Prettier Everyday - Chap 77
Chapter 77: I Also Gave You a Gift
After Yan Qiuchi took a shower, he sat on the bed and kept shaking his legs. His expression was very solemn, and his lips were tightly pursed. Shen Jintai’s Harper’s Bazaar magazine was still on the bedside.
The filming for The East Palace was over. The crew had given Shen Jintai a parting gift. They were live photos that were shot during the filming process. Most of them were behind-the-scenes tidbits. All the cast and crew were sent these. It could be considered a commemorative gift from the crew to the entire staff.
“Then you can send it to me,” Shen Jintai said.
Li Meilan asked while she flipped through the photos. “Are you still at the Yan family mansion?”
Shen Jintai: “Yeah.”
Li Meilan hung up as she turned a page. Suddenly, something caught her eye. It was a photo of Shen Jintai blowing out his birthday candles. Standing next to him are directors Guo Rui, Zheng Siqi, Bai Qingquan, and others. The surrounding group was full of crew members, but she saw an outstanding face in that group.
It was a person standing in the upper left corner of the photo. It was night when this photo was taken, but the darkness from the night accentuated this person’s facial features. With a tall figure that had a straight nose and a fair complexion, it couldn’t be anyone else but Yan Qiuchi.
Yan Qiuchi was staring at Shen Jintai with a smile on his face that Li Meilan had never seen before. It was like she was seeing a very gentle illusion.
Gentle… This shouldn’t really match Yan Qiuchi. He was a person famous for being an iceberg tyrant!
She quickly flipped through the photos again. She didn’t pay much attention at first when she went through it the first time, as she was only focusing on Shen Jintai. This time around, she started paying attention to other people and caught another photo. In its most inconspicuous corner was Yan Qiuchi. He was looking at Shen Jintai across from the crew’s equipment.
Because the lens of these photos was focused on Shen Jintai, if you hadn’t paid attention closely, you wouldn’t have noticed Yan Qiuchi. This time, Li Meilan was positive. Yan Qiuchi was looking at Shen Jintai. She felt she was getting goosebumps!
What’s going on?!
She took the car and drove to the Yan family mansion. When she arrived at the gate, she looked through the car window and saw an excellent-looking, tall young man standing in the shade nearby.
The car stopped in front of Shen Jintai, and Li Meilan got out. “Why did you come out?”
“Taking a walk,” Shen Jintai asked. “Did you bring the photo album?”
“Brought it.” Li Meilan handed it to him. “I also brought a script for a TV series. Take a look.”
Shen Jintai took it. Without looking at the photo album, he took out the script and started reading it. It was called . He was stunned. There were very few series that focused on marriage and love themes.
Shen Jintai: “A straight marriage?”
Li Meilan nodded. “It’s rare to receive such a script. We took a look and thought that it was well written. It focuses on the current situation of marriage and love among the younger generation. The director could potentially be Zhao Wentao, who often makes urban youth dramas. You can take a look first, but you don’t have to accept it.”
Shen Jintai felt what he had now was enough. The main reason was that his team had set a route for him to win in quality. If the project didn’t have box office explosion or award-winning potential, then it was rejected.
Li Meilan felt that the dividends from were enough for Shen Jintai to eat for three or four years as it was considered a masterpiece. All actors wanted to be on the big screen. With good movie resources, Shen Jintai didn’t need to consider making another TV series, unless the quality was comparable to that of The East Palace.
Li Meilan also knew this and still brought the script over. It wasn’t because it was very well written. Most likely because it should have been a favor.
He raised his head and glanced at Li Meilan. Li Meilan had a tacit understanding with him and said, “Someone asked President Ji to step in. He’s not a pushover, so this is just for you to look at. The final choice remains in your hands.”
“Then I’ll go back and take a look,” Shen Jintai said. “You don’t need to pick me up tomorrow. Just wait for me at the airport.”
“There will be many fans dropping you off,” Li Meilan reminded.
Shen Jintai nodded. Before entering the crew, he had a lot of promotional activities to do. He had picked up several endorsements. When he enters the crew, he’ll be closed off, so he had to fulfill these promotions before then.
Li Meilan asked, “How is it living at the Yan’s home? Are you used to it?”
Shen Jintai nodded. “It’s pretty good.”
Li Meilan tentatively asked, “Does President Yan often stay at home?”
Shen Jintai raised his head and glanced at her.
Li Meilan nervously laughed. “I have always been curious about the relationship between you two. Wouldn’t it be really embarrassing for you two to get along like before?”
“It’s all in the past. I made it clear a long time ago. Now he is not interested in me, and I’m not interested in him either.” Shen Jintai thought she suspected that his old love was rekindling. “I’ve told you eight hundred times already. Once broken, stays broken. Don’t worry about it.”
“Nn.” Li Meilan said, “Taking advantage of the current momentum, let’s attack our career!”
As soon as she finished speaking, she heard a car coming from a distance. She glanced back, and a Maybach stopped in front of them. The window rolled down, showing Yan Qiuchi sitting inside. It’s really true. Speak of Cao Cao and Cao Cao appears.
“President Yan,” Li Meilan hurriedly greeted him.
Yan Qiuchi asked, “Came to deliver something?”
“The East Palace released a commemorative book. Do you want it?” Shen Jintai asked with a smile.
Yan Qiuchi: “What memorial book?”
“I’ll show it to you later.” Shen Jintai said.
Li Meilan looked at them with a dry smile. She was about to lose her mind.
“Get in the car. I’ll give you a ride,” Yan Qiuchi said.
“No, I’ll walk.” Shen Jintai said.
Unexpectedly, Yan Qiuchi got out of the car, closed the door, and said, “Then let’s go together.”
Li Meilan: “…”
“You go back first. See you tomorrow at 9,” Shen Jintai said to her.
“…Okay.” Li Meilan shook hands with Yan Qiuchi as she got into her car in a panic. Before the car even turned around, Shen Jintai and Yan Qiuchi were already walking towards the manor together.
The yard was filled with old trees that have been around for decades. Their branches covered the sky. Bits of sunlight shined down through their leaves. May was nearing its end. Yan Qiuchi was wearing a formal suit while Shen Jintai had on a casual outfit, loose jeans, a white t-shirt, and a fisherman’s hat. From the back alone, Yan Qiuchi was taller and stronger, matching Shen Jintai quite well.
The attacker and receiver are clear!
Li Meilan felt that her suspicion could only be described as mystical. Yan Qiuchi has fallen in love with Shen Jintai?
She must be thinking too much. His mood is too difficult to assess. From just his expression, it’s almost impossible to clearly tell Yan Qiuchi’s satisfaction.
—
It wasn’t entirely correct to say that Yan Qiuchi’s heart was satisfied as he was walking with Shen Jintai in the cool shade. His heart felt like it was overflowing. Despite his heart feeling full, it wasn’t completely satisfied as it still held turbulent and uneasy feelings.
The details that he would normally not pay attention to in the past were infinitely magnified, such as the faint fragrance on Shen Jintai’s body. Shen Jintai gave people a clean feeling from the inside out. When he smelled it, his heart itched. He used to be such a workaholic who liked to work overtime, but now he was rushing home just because Shen Jintai was there. But he wouldn’t be there all the time. He would leave in a few days.
“Ah,” Mrs. Yan said when she saw him. “You’re back so early today?”
“Nn.” Yan Qiuchi said calmly, “The company hasn’t been too busy recently.” He gave Shen Jintai another look, then went upstairs.
He contemplated why he got out of the car to walk with Shen Jintai. It was because he wanted to spend every minute with him. When the two of them were together, there was actually nothing to say. What he wanted to say, he couldn’t, and what he could say, he didn’t know how.
He thought about these things in his heart as he went back to his room. He stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window and watched Shen Jintai and his mother fiddling with the flowers in the courtyard. One hand was in his trouser pockets while the other was unconsciously pinching his lower lip from time to time as he stared at Shen Jintai.
—
Shen Jintai went to participate in his promotional event shortly after. He traveled almost all over the southwest and northern areas for a week. Everywhere he went, there was a sea of gold.
He now had his own station sisters*, his fans had a clear division of labor, and his Meitu wouldn’t lose anyone. After gaining momentum, his fame and prestige had increased dramatically. The brands he endorsed and the magazines he was featured in have all set amazing sales records. His limelight was unparalleled.
*(站姐) Also referred to as goddess cannons. They are fans who use high-end cameras to shoot idols. They also help with fanclub organization and events.
Just before he was about to enter the crew, was officially announced.
“The follow-up resources for Touhua have finally come out, and it’s a big pie of the year again! Thank you.”
“This film should be a hit at the box office. First-line actors with top traffic, big directors and producers, and it will be released next summer.”
“The second round is the real achievement. The team has a good vision, and I look forward to Touhua’s first big screen debut!”
“It’s hard to imagine him acting as a soldier. In my heart, he has always been the feminine and gorgeous Li Xu.”
“I can’t imagine it either, but it’s this contrast that makes me look forward to it even more!”
The black powder Xiao Qi immediately went into battle. “Don’t accept a pilot like an eunuch. Please don’t insult this profession.”
Recently Xiao Qi didn’t expect much help from people to blacken Shen Jintai. It wasn’t possible. The role of Li Xu was too popular, and coupled with his loss at the award ceremony, the public was full of sympathy for Shen Jintai. Even his terrible reputation had been counterattacked and no new black spots could be found, so she couldn’t afford to make waves.
She changed her strategy and deliberately made some remarks to make gold powder scold her. Starting a scolding war could disgust passersby from the sidelines, who may think gold powders were too cruel.
She was waiting for gold powders to come and scold her, but when she refreshed it, the comments of passersby had already overwhelmed her comments. It was impossible to attack Shen Jintai. His popularity was too high now.
Xiao Qi pulled her hair depressingly.
The gold powders were growing day by day, and the fan base is getting bigger. The fans were young, so their love and hate were simple and strong. Generally, top stars and their fans were bursting with combat power, so you could easily tell who could tear who. When a top star had just risen, there would be a wave of black history and even black parts of their amateur period would be used to ridicule them. Fans loved their idol so naturally, they couldn’t bear it.
But Shen Jintai was an exception. He had already been stripped thoroughly before and his black history was well known to everyone, so his reputation couldn’t be lowered. Pair this with the abuse of fans at Li Xu’s finale, and the award ceremony was a recipe for harmony so blackspots had no opportunity to arise.
This wasn’t a climate for black powders, and there was no negative news. Even if the gold powders had explosive combat power, they had nowhere to show it. It seemed that the years would be quiet and peaceful, filled with singing and dancing.
Passersby were bursting with affection. “This should be the most qualified fanbase of a top idol. I feel that the gold powders are all cute!”
Of course, the gold powders were happy to see this kind of comment. Anyone who wanted to scold their brother would surely be unhappy.
It was all because of their brother, who was fighting and giving them energy. He was unstoppable, and now he was so hot that it could be easily seen by the naked eye, and their brother would continue to get hotter in the future. Being a powder to such a brother was simply physically and mentally comforting!
Brother, fly bravely and gold powders would always follow!
—
Shen Jintai returned to the Yan’s manor before entering the crew. This time he bought gifts for everyone.
Invest in peaches, repay them in plums*. The Yan family have always treated him well, so it was only natural he had to repay them. Mrs. Yan wasn’t soft on giving him gifts, so he was very generous in his gifts to her. He gave her a set of high-luxury jewelry.
*(投之以桃報之以李) Idiom meaning the values of peaches and plums are equivalent so it’s reasonable to pay them back in such manner. Basically, equivalent exchange when gifting someone back for their gift.
Mrs. Yan cried with joy. After putting it on, she showed it off everywhere. She even recorded herself with them on to brag to Yan Yaoxuan and Yan Tiefang. After Yan Qiuchi got off work, she wore it to flaunt in front of him. “How is it? Does it look good? It’s from Xiao Jin.”
From a glance, it was obvious that the set of jewelry was incredibly expensive. It shone brightly under the light.
Yan Qiuchi: “It looks good.”
Shen Jintai said, “I also bought you a gift.”
Yan Qiuchi’s heart pounded. He faintly said, “Nn”.
Shen Jintai laughed. “I ask the maid to put it in your room.”
“Thank you,” Yan Qiuchi said as he gave Shen Jintai a momentary glance. His lips slightly curled.
Shen Jintai: “You’re welcome. I picked it myself. I hope you like it.”
Yan Qiuchi slowly went upstairs. As soon as he entered his room, he saw a box on the table. He opened the gift slowly, layer by layer, and finally saw a watch. It had a black plate and a white needle, which was the opposite color of what he gave to Shen Jintai.
The author has something to say:
Well now, this is a real couple’s watch.
