Don’t Be a Kept Man

Chapter 73: Filming

Most celebrities would not personally head into the battlefield that is the internet by themselves to fight. They would normally choose to use the power of their fans to fight back, and so situations like Chen Yi were very rare. 

Fu Xiu Nian had allowed and specifically made sure that notifications would pop up for Chen Yi’s every activity. And so he had the pleasure to watch him personally and in real time roast the antis back the way they came, making them degrade into children and leaving them yelling curses as a final resort.

Perhaps a few days later, the Edited Sketches section would have a new topic to go for, and this time Fu Xiu Nian could even guess the title — << Those Years Chen Yi retorted back at the antis >>.

It had been a few days since Fu Xiu Nian checked on the official fan group page, and when he took the chance to, he was shocked to find the number that did not even reach a hundred break through the thousand mark and every minute was 99＋ messages. There were even sectioned off groups.

When Li Su Li first signed her contract with GE, it was for twenty years, and now that she was fighting in the courts to break off her contract with GE, she was letting loose all the unimaginable news and also at the same time, selling out the image that she was pitiful. 

With her image of being so pitiful contrasted by the despicable and deplorable image of GE, the tide was slowly turning her way. Even with GE buying a lot of bot armies to support their side, they were still on the losing side. This also meant that Zhou Ming was too busy to even deal with Chen Yi.

Nonstop monster killing noises sounded in the living room and it didn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon. Chen Yi finally threw his phone to the side and rocked his head around to stretch it. He asked Fu Xiu Nian, 

“What are we eating tonight?”

These last few days he had spent most of his waking hours with Fu Xiu Nian and only when evening came would he head back home to spend time with his sister. This way, not only did he successfully avoid Chen Xiao Meng’s three meals of the day, he could take care of both sides. A perfect solution for everything.

Fu Xiu Nian sat on the couch, with his laptop in his lap. His webpage was all in english characters and hearing this, he sped up his typing speed. When he successfully sent the file he was working on, he closed his laptop and asked, 

“What do you want to eat?”

“I don’t know.”

Chen Yi lazily rested on the couch, scrolling through his phone. His side profile made him look like a handsome child and when he talked, he elongated some syllables, making it feel like he was just fending Fu Xiu Nian off.

Fu Xiu Nian silently looked at him but did not successfully get any of Chen Yi’s attention. He couldn’t help but crouch right in front of him, and with both of his hands on his knees, he asked very seriously, 

“…… Chen Yi, say it honestly. Are you with me because you pity me?”

“Hmm?”

Chen Yi raised his eyebrow slightly and turned his gaze away from his phone, 

“Do I look like I’m that generous of a person?”

Fu Xiu Nian was silent for a moment before replying, 

“…… I always feel like there’s no difference between me and any other person in your heart.”

Chen Yi was not used to showing off any of his feelings on the exterior and even if he liked someone, they would not see him act more gentle or different to them. Even normal interactions would not show a single hint of that. No matter what, his face would always show off that cold conceited expression, like the roaming adventurer in games, never settling down. Ever since the start of their relationship, Fu Xiu Nian had never felt safe after that initial happiness.

Fu Xiu Nian said after a while, 

“Chen Yi, it doesn’t matter whether you like me or not, I will always still like you. But don’t lie to me. And don’t play with my feelings……”

No matter how meek a personality could be, they would have a threshold. If Chen Yi was really playing with him, Fu Xiu Nian did not know what he could do. He knew, in his heart, he had that strange perseverance, an attitude to keep everything tight and controlled around him, unlike what his innocent surface appearance would suggest.

Chen Yi tilted up his chin and stared right into the eyes of Fu Xiu Nian, 

“Do you feel like it’s impossible for me to be with you?”

Fu Xiu Nian didn’t reply, as if to confirm that sentiment.

Chen Yi folded his hands together and lazily said, 

“You can cook, you’re meek, you’re good looking and you are even willing to work hard. It’s not that strange to like you. What if I kept hesitating, never able to make a decision and you ran off with someone, hmm? It wasn’t wrong of me to take the initiative then, was it?”

And then said, 

“Men don’t need such wishy washy feelings. Whether it works or not, let’s be together first. Feelings can slowly grow after.”

Perhaps there would be a deeper understanding of feeling, but Chen Yi could not say that out loud.

He would have never anticipated other people being good to him, but he could not forget when he first came to this world, with everyone around him full of malice towards him, the first generosity shown to him was from Fu Xiu Nian.

He liked it when Fu Xiu Nian smiled so obediently and cutely.

Chen Yi pulled him up from the floor and sat Fu Xiu Nian on his legs, 

“You’re pretty fine yourself. Don’t always think of yourself so poorly and don’t think of me so greatly. Go ask around outside and would you believe that there would be at least eight out of ten people who would think you are blind to even want to be with me.”

He was comforting Fu Xiu Nian in his own way, even if his tone wasn’t that great.

Fu Xiu Nian lowered his eyes and shook his head, but he didn’t reply. He reached out to embrace Chen Yi and, after a while, took the initiative to kiss him, from his eyebrows to his eyes, calling his name quietly.

“Chen Yi……”

“Chen Yi……”

The more he called, the more it started to change, and near the end, his voice was like a cat, unconsciously seducing the hearts of those who could hear him. Chen Yi held him by the back of his head and kissed him in a very dominant and overwhelming way, flipping him around to press him against the couch. He inched his hands upwards, lifting up Fu Xiu Nian’s clothes slowly and revealing that pale white waist. His palms swam up and up, making Fu Xiu Nian want to curl up.

Just then, as if Fu Xiu Nian remembered something, he pulled up with great difficulty the last bit of logic he still had intact in him, 

“You…… will you still eat dinner……”

Chen Yi lifted him up from the couch and walked straight into the bedroom. He hoarsely said, 

“What do you think?”

Chen Yi did not return home that night.

The light coloured blanket on the bed was twisted around and around, bunching up with random pieces of clothing falling out to the ground occasionally. Like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon, it would become a seductive flower as it flew onto the ground. Huffs and puffs and moans and groans, all sounds and actions mixed and meshed together and did not stop until the dark was fading away in the night.

Zhou Ming had been admitted to the hospital and after a few days of him staying there, Ling Dang sent a message to Chen Yi. The executives of the company had arranged a new manager for him and bluntly put, it meant that Chen Yi was to go back to work again.

The new manager from GE was called Ning Tong, and she was a girl that did not look very old. Ever since Chen Yi had done what he had done online, he was considered to be the hardest artist to manage in GE. There were even rumors that Zhou Ming was admitted to the hospital because of him. So Ning Tong was very courteous to Chen Yi, not even saying his name without it being referenced with respect.1

“Yi-Ge, there are a few scripts here that the higher ups want you to pick from. See which one you are interested in. There are school dramas, ancient eras, CEOs and business dramas, quite a set of combinations to pick from.”

Chen Yi had become a very hot commodity recently and so GE would have no reason to let that go to waste. Compared to being on the back burner, it was naturally better to get the most out of him with what they could. Ning Tong grabbed a thick stack of papers, all of them scripts, out of her backpack to give to Chen Yi.

Chen Xiao Meng leaned on her crutches, as she poured Ning Tong a glass of water, and grabbed two cold beverages from the fridge. She smiled and greeted her before heading back into the room, which made Ning Tong’s good feelings for her increase.

Chen Yi was just flipping through the scripts and he heard Ning Tong say, 

“Yi-Ge you have such luck. Your wife is so pretty.”

Chen Yi didn’t even lift up his head to reply, 

“I’m not married. She’s my sister.”

Ning Tong was a little shocked and then quickly smiled and zipped her mouth shut. Chen Yi did not take long to read most of the film scripts and found that most of them were pretty terrible. Some of them included web dramas and those were an even bigger pile of mess.

Chen Yi asked, 

“Do I need to choose one?”

Ning Tong nodded her head.

Chen Yi randomly picked a script out of the pile and said, 

“Then this one, << Minister >>.”

Ning Tong immediately clapped, 

“Your eyes are sharp. << Minister >> is a big budget project. The director had previously even won the award for best director. I originally wanted you to act in this, but for some reason the sponsors already wanted you to play the second main lead.”

Chen Yi paused in surprise.

Seeing him not speak, Ning Tong added, 

“Originally this kind of big budget series was not looking for celebrities that are “idol-ish”, and I never thought it would even be possible for you. But perhaps it is because your aura and attitude are too alike to the second main lead, almost as if you were the real life version of him that you were able to be considered for this role. No matter what, this is a chance that would only come by once in a lifetime. Do you know how many male actors break their heads just trying to get even a small role in this?”

Chen Yi didn’t really have much to say, 

“Then << Minister >> it is.”

And then the both of them discussed a few details, ending off with Ning Tong giving him a few things to do before settling on a date to head into the filming site and leaving.

After Chen Yi sent her off, he turned his head and saw Chen Xiao Meng hiding by the door, smiling like a thief. Who knew what she was smiling so weirdly at?

“Bring your crutches. I’ll take you on a walk.”

Chen Xiao Meng’s leg was still healing, and the doctors recommended that she walk a bit everyday to get the muscles moving and blood flowing. So when Chen Yi had time, he would take her downstairs to walk in the nearby park for a bit.

Chen Xiao Meng walked out the door with her crutches and as she did, she asked, 

“Brother, are you going to work very soon?”

With a mask on his face, Chen Yi held Chen Xiao Meng by her arm to make sure she wouldn’t fall. He said uncertainly, 

“Perhaps. It’s not like I have acted before.”

The weather was getting very hot and before long, not even completing a few circles around the park, Chen Xiao Meng was starting to sweat. She sat on a bench to rest and begged cutely at Chen Yi, 

“Brother, I want to eat a popsicle.”

Chen Yi thought in his heart that there was something different to be raising up a sister after all. If it was one of his juniors in his family before, he would just send his leg over to their chest as a gift. 

“Sit here and wait for me then. I’ll go buy you one.”

The moment he left, a park maintenance employee sat next to her. Chen Xiao Meng took a quick look, but seeing that it was an old man, she didn’t take much notice after that and only kept fanning herself with her hands.

Accompanying her as she waited was the sound of crickets on the trees. But suddenly, not long after, Chen Xiao Meng heard something heavy fall onto the ground. She reflexively looked over and found that the maintenance employee had fallen over and she stood up from shock.

“Ack! Are you ok?!”

Chen Xiao Meng didn’t even have time to use her crutches and she clumsily stumbled the way over to the old man. She found that the other’s face was burning red, and his skin was very warm to the touch, making it very likely he was having a heatstroke. 

The community was quite quiet and with the weather like this, Chen Xiao Meng was not surprised to find that there was no one else around. She did not bring a cellphone with her and so she could only take off the work jacket from the old man and picked up his sun hat to fan him with all her life.

Chen Yi just came back at this point and upon seeing this, hurried forward and said with seriousness, 

“What happened?!”

Chen Xiao Meng spoke with a panicked voice, 

“Brother, he seems to be having a heatstroke. Should we call the ambulance?”

Chen Yi reached out to test the temperature of the old man’s forehead and had drawn his own conclusions then, 

“No.”

And then he lifted the old man up, and without question hit him on some of the meridian points on the back of his head. And in front of Chen Xiao Meng, he squeezed the old man’s philtrum, splattering a little of the cold water from the bottles he just bought onto him. Before long, the other was slowly waking up, only feeling a little out of sorts.

Chen Xiao Meng gave him some water, and from a few quick questions, she got his family’s phone number. Chen Yi phoned them and half an hour later, a young girl wearing a school uniform came rushing over.

“Thank you so much! My parents are working out of town and my grandpa’s not in the greatest state of health. If he did not meet you both today, I don’t know what would have happened!”

The girl was very sincere and kept bowing in gratitude to them. Chen Yi didn’t have much of a reaction, but Chen Xiao Meng quickly shook her hands, 

“No no, we didn’t really do anything. This is what we should have done regardless.”

And then helped her call a taxi by the road. Chen Yi helped the old grandpa in and seeing that the other was in their uniform, he thought she probably wouldn’t have the money to pay the fee as she most likely just came straight from her school. He quickly stuffed a hundred yuan into her hands before the car left.

The girl blushed, feeling very sorry, 

“Big brother, give me your wechat. I’ll transfer you back the money later.”

She always felt like those eyes of Chen Yi that were not covered by the face mask looked very familiar, but she could not think of who it reminded her of. Chen Yi waved his hand but did not speak and then walked back home with Chen Xiao Meng.

Notes:

*1 There are a few intricate ways of speaking to refer to someone with respect. One of which is the word “you”. When Ning Tong speaks to Chen Yi, she is actually using the formal “you” that says the you, with all great due respect etc. Consider her speech as very very polite as if a subordinate to a boss, a junior to their very old senior. If you know languages like Japanese or Korean or French, it is the polite version of their speech.