Xiao Yi usually rarely watched action movies, but Lu Zhou's performance was really too good. Until the end of the drama, in the penultimate scene, when Lu Zhou died in the desert, the sound of the gunshot was so thrilling, coupled with the music, the rising sun, and Xin Hongkai standing alone in the desert.

"You played this dying scene too well." Xiao Yi whispered.

Lu Zhou: "You're the one who played it too well..."

Xiao Yi: "..."

The female lead rushed forward to hug Xin Hongkai, the camera pulled away, showing the desert, the horizon, the mountains and rivers, the wind blowing clouds away.

The whole audience applauded, Xiao Yi hadn't recovered yet, Lu Zhou whispered, "How much of this applause do you think is for me?"

Xiao Yi glanced back, the entire premiere venue was fully packed.

"I think almost all of it is for you," Xiao Yi said.

"Why?" Lu Zhou raised his eyebrows, clapping while turning his head to look at Xiao Yi's eyes, like a focused child.

"Because they didn't laugh," Xiao Yi whispered. "Everyone had a kind of sad expression. If it was for the protagonist, they would have laughed, thinking that the protagonist had finally succeeded. But because they were moved by Zheng Changrong, there's a kind of sadness, even if the protagonist succeeded, the result is still a kind of regret, an imperfect regret."

The credits rolled, everyone still applauded.

Lu Zhou, while clapping, took advantage and said, "Hey, I paid attention not to steal the limelight from the protagonist, but what can I do?"

Xiao Yi: "..."

While the lights were still off, Xiao Yi leaned over and quickly kissed Lu Zhou's lips. When the lights came on, the credits finished, the post-credits scene began.

The first shot was Lu Zhou crawling out of the desert as a corpse, excitedly rushing towards Xiao Yi. They hugged each other.

Instantly, the atmosphere in the entire theater peaked. Everyone burst into laughter first, then cheered loudly. Everyone turned to look at them. Lu Zhou's face was red, almost bursting into laughter, waving his hands repeatedly, indicating that he would explain later.

After the premiere, the host interviewed Lu Zhou, the first question being, "Lu Zhou, I saw you were very happy in the post-credits scene, why?"

"I was indeed very happy," Lu Zhou replied, "This is my first drama after my injury. My assistant helped me understand this character with another form of art."

"What art?" The host looked up at the screen. The playback showed Xiao Yi running out. The camera shot his back. No one could see who it was. When the camera turned, Xiao Yi was already smiling and walking away from the side of the theater.

Lu Zhou nodded, gesturing to the host to quickly interview the main actor and not to waste time on him.

*

As a New Year's film, competing with three other films for the time slot, Xiao Yi finally realized the power of the box office battle. He had never paid attention to scheduling, ratings, and box office before, but now he felt everywhere was full of fierce competition, almost unbearable to watch.

Three films were released successively, and the last one was Zhang Xinran's. Xiao Yi broke out in a cold sweat. Fortunately, he didn't take this movie back then, otherwise it would have been embarrassing.

Lu Zhou started the group teasing mode: "Not filming, huh?"

Xiao Yi: "..."

"Oh, I still plan to go and support her." Lu Zhou pretended to be smiling, talking to his friends on the phone, "Recently, our little rabbit doesn't let me go out, saying that Chinese New Year should be spent at home... No way. No, no, it's because of what you said, how could I hope she fails? Farewell to friends is better than a quarrel, right?"

Xiao Yi: "…………"

First day box office, 7.9 million.

Lu Zhou glanced at it and said, "Zhang Xinran actually used the face-down approach this time, the scheduling isn't good, but there might still be hope for Valentine's Day."

"Valentine's Day won't work either," Xiao Yi said, "Valentine's Day will feature Zheng Xiaocong and Ning Yaqing's movies."

Lu Zhou remembered that Ning Yaqing's backstage was too strong, even Zheng Xiaocong was pulled over, so Zhang Xinran's movie was indeed not in a good situation.

"Can it break even?" Xiao Yi asked.

"3.3 million on the first day," Lu Zhou said, "It should be able to. Nowadays, as long as you can schedule well, even a bad film can make two billion. What can't be profitable?"

On the twenty-eighth of the lunar year, it was released, this was a special effects fantasy blockbuster, bringing in a Hollywood team. If possible, Xiao Yi would really like to go and see it, but considering both Lu Zhou's health and mood, he had to give up.

First day box office, 20.5 million.

"Hahahaha!" Lu Zhou's schadenfreude never seemed to stop as he complained to his friend over the phone, "Ah, nowadays no one watches movies with lesbian themes anymore. Li Changzheng and Gu Xiaoqing, do you think these two girls can spark any fire?"

Suo Yi had completely gotten used to Lu Zhou's talent for sarcasm. This guy just skewed his talents in who knows what direction.

"Oh, it's not aimed at him," Lu Zhou said while talking on the phone, giving Xiao Yi a sidelong glance. Then he continued into the phone, "Our family's Tzuki here doesn't know how dangerous the entertainment industry is. It's essential to have someone strong by your side. Why bother fawning over Li Changzheng, a small-time actor?"

Xiao Yi was tearing up inside, thinking that Lu Zhou's exclusivity was too strong. ‘Don't be too cocky,’ he thought.

When Li Changzheng's movie was released, its rating on Douban skyrocketed to nine points, but then it started to drop. Forums and Weibo were flooded with photos from the film.

Xiao Yi already had a rough idea of what was happening. "Are these a water army (NT: paid trolls)?" he asked.

Lu Zhou was still on the phone, laughing, "Hahaha!! None of the movies he invested in ever succeeded. What? Wateer army? Oh, definitely! If Li Changzheng didn't hire them, the sun will rise in the west..."

Xiao Yi shouted angrily, "If you're hiring a water army, why not promote your own movie? Why ours?"

Lu Zhou sighed amidst his laughter, "Hey, can you not be so naive? With just two movies, even Zhang Xinran got trashed in seconds. Should I tell them to trash Zhang Xinran instead?"

Xiao Yi was furious at Li Changzheng's water army, but then again, maybe it wasn't Li Changzheng hiring them. It was probably the film company. They not only promoted their own film but also trashed Lu Zhou's performance. Lu Zhou had no backing now, at best just an affiliation. Du Mei didn't even bother with him anymore. So Lu Zhou ended up being trashed by thousands and stomped on by tens of thousands. Everything was pinned on him.

Lu Zhou was still basking in the glow of victory, even though he was just a supporting actor, he acted as if he were the lead. He was almost reaching the ceiling with his pride.

Xiao Yi said, "Do you have the contact information for water armies?"

Lu Zhou said, "Ah-ha! I don't even need to do anything. Just Zheng Xiaocong alone can blow him up..."

"Do you have the contact information for water armies?!" Xiao Yi repeated.

Lu Zhou exclaimed, "Just take a look at the ledger yourself! It's all there. Little Tzuki is going to assist his male god in hiring a water army to dominate the box office. Can you believe it? Look at Li Changzheng, living the high life, unlike me, Lu Zhou, who can only pave the way for others..."

Xiao Yi had now unconsciously filtered his words. He gradually realized that since that night when he and Lu Zhou had broken through that barrier and become a couple, his feelings for him had changed somewhat. His previous love had been pure worship for the male god and idol, but now it felt more like the pride one feels for family and relatives, making him admire Lu Zhou's awesomeness while also finding his antics amusing at times, like a child seeking praise but not getting enough from the fans. It seemed that Lu Zhou looked forward to Xiao Yi's admiration more than that of the fans.

Lu Zhou: "Yeah, he wanted a birthday present, so I can only shoot a movie to gift to him. Hey, I'm getting old, really old... after the Chinese New Year? I haven't thought about it..."

Xiao Yi flipped through the record, surprised to find out that Lu Zhou had even hired his own promoter to create hype. Wasn't this Du Mei's responsibility? He was stunned when he saw the public relations fee.

It dated back to last year, expenses for hiring a promoter to devise Weibo marketing strategies. It was all about Xiao Yi. Although Lu Zhou didn't hype up the talent competition last year, on the first night of Xiao Yi's preliminary contest, the content was pushed up on Weibo. Lu Zhou did activate the water army and spent 100,000 yuan on it. There was even a budget of nearly 300,000 yuan for future expenditures, awaiting quotations from the public relations company.

However, Lu Zhou only pushed the content up once that night. The next day, he saw that it was already trending without any further push, so he stopped attending to it and instructed the company to monitor the situation.

Lu Zhou suddenly remembered while on the phone and immediately came over after hanging up. Xiao Yi heard Lu Zhou say, "Can't talk to you anymore, gotta go." He quickly closed the ledger and pretended to have just opened it.

"Why are you hiring a water army?" Lu Zhou said as he swiftly took the ledger away. Xiao Yi didn't have time to flip through it and seemed lost in thought. He thought to himself, ‘Come on, you inherited my acting skills. Can't you see that I'm acting?’ And so he replied, "To boost our movie."

"Nope," Lu Zhou said impatiently, "The box office is enough to embarrass the two of them. No need for any water army."

Xiao Yi had to give up. However, watching a group of people cursing on Douban, he was filled with hatred. Finally, unable to resist, he personally stepped in and posted a long review, mainly stating how well Lu Zhou acted and how heroic he was. After all, where was this movie bad?

But what he completely didn't expect was that the water army's target wasn't Lu Zhou at all. Everyone unanimously said, "Yeah, Lu Zhou saved this terrible movie, so that's why the box office is over two hundred million. But this doesn't change the fact that it's a terrible movie."

So, with everyone's consensus, they began to furiously attack Xin Hongkai, saying that her acting was terrible and she was just a vase, etc.

Xiao Yi didn't know whether to laugh or cry, like punching cotton with no reaction.

Xiao Yi didn't bother to look anymore. Finally, the movie went off the screens, and the box office numbers came out, totalling two hundred and fifty million. Although he heard that the costs ended up exceeding nearly forty million, it didn't have a huge explosion, but it still made a profit.

As for Li Changzheng's movie, it totalled three hundred million, but with the costs ballooning to one hundred and forty million, it would take nearly six hundred million to break even.

Zhang Xinran's movie wrapped up with over forty million in revenue. It was a small profit. If they hadn't hired her, they might have earned a bit more. But now, with everything complete, they spent all day praising Zhang Xinran's contribution to the box office, and this time, it backfired. Xiao Yi couldn't help but find it amusing.

*

On Lantern Festival, the crew held a celebration banquet at a five-star hotel buffet. Xiao Yi thought, ‘Wow, this five-star buffet was where our former boss and editor-in-chief used to have meetings and where the executives dined!’

Salmon, eat as much as you want!

Xiao Yi still remembered how he desperately wanted to come here before. So, he begged for two meal tickets from his colleagues. He wanted to bring his girlfriend to eat, but unfortunately, that night he was asked to work overtime. Finally done around eight, when he and his girlfriend arrived, they found only decorative dragon fruits left in the dishes. Then he got scolded by his girlfriend and had to leave by taxi...

As soon as Xiao Yi entered, he felt like a wild dog with a prolapsed rectum, running around recklessly. Lu Zhou threatened him in his ear, "If you embarrass me today, I'll fire you."

Now Lu Zhou's threats had changed from "You're fired" to "I'll fire you." Xiao Yi was completely immune to Lu Zhou's various airs of authority. As long as he could deceive him, it was fine. Just after entering, Lu Zhou chuckled and went to shake hands with another producer who came to join in the fun.

"This is..." Lu Zhou turned back, about to introduce Xiao Yi to the producer, but Xiao Yi had already dashed off somewhere. Lu Zhou could only sweat-drop and force a smile, saying, "My agent often runs around..."

Xiao Yi planned to cleanly take up all the salmon on the plate, but Lu Zhou suddenly appeared behind him with graceful steps.

Xiao Yi had to stand straight and nonchalantly picked up a couple of pieces, smiling at Lu Zhou. "Do you want some?"

Lu Zhou replied, "You eat. I'll watch you eat here."

Xiao Yi: "..."

Grabbing Xiao Yi's collar, Lu Zhou dragged him away from the salmon. They ran into the producer on the way, and instantly changed their expressions. Both warmly nodded and greeted the producer.

After the producer passed by, Lu Zhou pulled Xiao Yi to the table. The journalist next to them looked twitchy.

Xiao Yi: "..."

"Eat up, eat up," Lu Zhou said.

"Hey! Sir Lu!" a middle-aged man next to them chuckled.

"Hello, hello," Lu Zhou shook hands with the middle-aged man, while Xiao Yi knew that Lu Zhou must be thinking, "Who's this?" The man hurriedly handed over his business card, and Xiao Yi took it. The middle-aged man smiled and said, "Hello, who are you?"

"I'm Xiao Daxia (NT: 大侠  dà xiá, meaning knight, chivalrous hero)," Xiao Yi nodded sincerely, "Known in the martial world as Tzuki with a single peak character, wearing a red cloak."

Lu Zhou: "..."

Middle-aged man: "..."

As Xiao Daxia ate the salmon, Sir Lu squeezed some wasabi for him. But after snapping his fingers, the wasabi disappeared. So Lu Zhou got up to get more and said to Xiao Yi, "Wait here."

Lu Zhou had no interest in talking to the middle-aged man. He nodded politely and walked away.

"Lu Zhou seems thinner than he does on TV," the middle-aged man said, realizing Xiao Yi was looking at him. He quickly added, "I'm surnamed Deng, Deng Xiaochuan."

"Hello," Xiao Yi said, "I'm Lu Zhou's agent."

Xiao Yi was afraid that Mr. Deng would say something strange, like not knowing the relationship between Xiao Yi and Lu Zhou, unintentionally making some comments that would embarrass both parties. So he smiled politely at him and introduced himself first.

"I'm a producer," Mr. Deng said. "Has Lu Zhou taken on any new roles recently?"

Xiao Yi encountered such straightforward conversation for the first time. Usually, people would beat around the bush, chat about recent movies first, praise each other a bit, and then inquire about Zheng Xiaocong Studio's projects this year. A producer with connections would surely have all the information gathered before they spoke, rather than just asking if one was available and saying they had a role to offer. This wasn't hiring a labourer to do construction work!

Xiao Yi felt extremely embarrassed. He couldn't answer, but not answering wasn't an option either, especially since he was Lu Zhou's agent. He couldn't just say, "I don't know." In the end, he had to say, "We're still discussing this issue. I think I'll let him rest for a while, his shoulder injury hasn't fully healed."

Deng Xiaochuan handed Xiao Yi another business card. Xiao Yi glanced at it and saw it belonged to a small company. Obviously, Lu Zhou hadn't heard of him either. Following the principle of ‘Lauding the lofty and denigrating the humble’ in the entertainment industry, Xiao Yi should focus on dealing with his salmon at this point.

However, Deng Xiaochuan earnestly talked about his project, so Xiao Yi had to reluctantly put down his fork and listen attentively, while inwardly hoping for Lu Zhou to come and rescue him quickly. Deng Xiaochuan was a producer with a small project, or even no project at all.

Xiao Yi had encountered such situations many times before. At every TV or film festival, there were many unknown directors and producers with their stories, trying to catch the interest of bosses or movie stars.

But most of the time, they hadn't even found a screenwriter, and the story was just a rough idea. Once they got into the details, many problems would arise: insufficient investment, an inadequate production team, lack of connections with the distribution side, inability to offer a suitable salary to make stars lower their prices in appreciation of the story, and so on. 99% of similar situations were just wishful thinking.

Deng Xiaochuan also came with his story. Xiao Yi thought the script was okay, but when listening, he often couldn't focus, especially when there was good food in front of him. The details went in one ear and out the other, and he had no idea what the producer had said.

"I want to contact a good director," Deng Xiaochuan said. "After looking around, I think only Lu Zhou can play Qin Shan."

"It's hard to assemble a good production team," Xiao Yi replied, wondering what on earth Qin Shan was. Deng Xiaochuan talked for nearly ten minutes, and Lu Zhou came back. Just by looking at Xiao Yi's expression, Lu Zhou knew what was going on.

"Do you have a script?" Lu Zhou asked.

"The script is still being refined," Deng Xiaochuan replied.

Lu Zhou stated, "Let's take a look if there's a script."

"I think the story is good," Xiao Yi said. "It's very appealing."

Deng Xiaochuan smiled and said, "You think so too."

Xiao Yi nodded, and Lu Zhou turned to Xiao Yi again. "Come here, I'll introduce you to someone. What did he say?"

"I don't know..." Xiao Yi answered.

"In the future, don't waste time on these people," Lu Zhou advised.

Xiao Yi followed Lu Zhou to greet the investors. Zheng Xiaocong had invested four million and also came to join in the fun, holding a glass of red wine and saying Xiao Yi, " Xiao Yi!"

Xiao Yi smiled and called him Brother Xiaocong. A group of wealthy bosses stood chatting, most of them had some kind of relationship with each other. For example, A was the boss of Juhua, B was the vice president of Lixing, C had known Du Mei before, and there were also several producers from China Film. They took this opportunity to socialize with each other.

Lu Zhou smiled and talked to them about his plans after his comeback, hoping to have some good projects. One of the producers said to Xiao Yi, "You can start planning publicity now, haha!"

"Huh?" Xiao Yi smiled awkwardly, thinking that Deng Xiaochuan was also a producer. Indeed, there was still a big difference between producers. Xiao Yi asked, "Promote the comeback?"

The producer said, "Yeah. Maybe we can get the broadcasting permit soon."

Xiao Yi's heart soared with joy and he exclaimed, "Really?"

Lu Zhou quickly added, "Ah! Thanks, Lin Ge!"

The producer replied, "Oh, it's nothing. I heard that a friend of Director Guo put in a lot of effort, so it should be approved. This year, Lu Zhou, it's going to be a breakthrough year for your works! When are you going to come and guest star for us, haha!"

"No problem!" Lu Zhou smiled. "Haha..."

Xiao Yi thought this gathering was like a group of bad actors shooting a commercial... But being able to broadcast 《The Wind Floats》and 《Iron Horse and Glacier》was still very exciting. He didn't expect Lu Zhou to turn things around with these two projects because Lu Zhou almost certainly wouldn't consider TV dramas anymore. However, he really liked these two TV dramas and hoped to see Lu Zhou's presence in them.

"Do we need to prepare for the publicity of the drama?" Xiao Yi asked as he drove home.

"It's still too early to tell," Lu Zhou noted. "They're just talking casually. Don't take it too seriously."

"Huh? That made me happy for nothing," Xiao Yi said.

Lu Zhou declared thoughtfully, "But the news should be true. Even the TV station is anxious."

Every day, Xiao Yi would check a few TV station Weibo accounts, but Lu Zhou didn't have any plans. After the box office success, people started approaching Lu Zhou for movie roles, and they were all male leads. The vice president of Zheng Xiaocong's studio called Lu Zhou a few times and asked Xiao Yi to attend a meeting to pick up the script.

Xiao Yi received three movie scripts. One was a historical drama set in the Warring States period about Mozi and Gongshu Ban, with Gongshu Ban as the male lead (NT: Mozi was a philosopher;  he engaged in nine simulated war games with Gongshu Ban, the chief military strategist of Chu state , and overturned each one of his stratagems). Another was a contemporary urban romance, and the third was about Xiao Fengxian and Cai E. (NT: Cai met Xiao Fengxian when he was held under house arrest by Yuan Shih-kai in Beijing after he proclaimed himself the emperor of a new dynasty in 1915. She helped him to escape). 

Xiao Yi was somewhat intrigued, feeling that playing Cai E might be good, especially with Lu Zhou's temperament; portraying Cai E might bring a breakthrough.

However, there were too many lines in the script. After discussing it, Lu Zhou decided to wait a little longer. These things couldn't be rushed. He would rather wait for a year for a good script and director than casually accept any movie.

*

With the arrival of spring, the warmth filled people's hearts. Beijing had an unusual absence of smog this year. Xiao Yi lay on the sofa, not needing to do anything, with no work to do. All he had to do every day was exercise, surf the internet, eat, sleep, and read books. Indeed, life is good when you're rich.

He planned to dust off his compositions and have his erhu sent over from home so he could write songs for Lu Zhou.

With flowers blooming everywhere in spring, Lu Zhou planned to move to a house with a swimming pool. As this season arrived, both of them felt an impulse, wishing to do nothing but follow the instincts of nature and species in the comfort of their home.

Xiao Yi gradually became accustomed to his relationship with Lu Zhou and gradually got to know the entirely different side of Lu Zhou. Their relationship evolved from that of a fan and an idol to that of a couple. Although Xiao Yi still admired him, he was more focused on taking care of him earnestly. In the past, Lu Zhou was just an image to many people.

In S Xiao uo Yi's heart, however, Lu Zhou was a person, with emotions, flaws, and all the quirks of a thirty-something man, just as Lu Zhou saw Xiao Yi as a compliant boyfriend. Xiao Yi was no longer afraid of Lu Zhou and often teased him, much like with his previous friends. Lu Zhou rarely got angry with Xiao Yi anymore, as if he cherished this hard-won love.

Xiao Yi often admired Lu Zhou, feeling that it would be a waste not to make full use of the inner male god of so many people. So he treated Lu Zhou like a doll, planning various dress-up scenarios for him every day. Lu Zhou initially found Xiao Yi's antics amusing, but later on, he even cooperated willingly.

Thus, they tried out various outfits: suits, swim trunks, military uniforms, sporty attire, pyjamas, and casual cotton shirts. Lu Zhou even began making requests of Xiao Yi.

One of Xiao Yi's favourite scenarios was when Lu Zhou wore a white shirt, almost completely unbuttoned, with a tie or bow tie, revealing his chest, and leaned over Xiao Yi. Another favorite was when Lu Zhou returned from a run, with his bronzed skin slightly sweaty, stripped down to shorts and a tank top, showing off his toned body, as he pressed Suo Yi down.

Lu Zhou, on the other hand, requested that Xiao Yi wear rimless glasses and lie on the dining table while he entered from behind. Or after a workout, Lu Zhou wanted Xiao Yi to strip naked, put on canvas shoes and sport wristbands, spread his legs, and let Lu Zhou come in from the front, touching Xiao Yi's chest and abs.

Finally, Lu Zhou wanted Xiao Yi to wear cotton slippers, white socks, and an apron, while cooking or washing dishes, with Lu Zhou approaching from behind.

Xiao Yi thought he was already a bit kinky, but he hadn't expected Lu Zhou to be even kinkier.

"I-I-I... have something to do," Xiao Yi said. "I'll leave for a while."

"Oh," Lu Zhou said lazily, "Not joining?"

Lu Zhou had just returned from swimming, bare-chested, wearing triangular swim trunks and sports shoes, lounging lazily on the sofa.

 

The last part of the chapter is NSFW, please read at your own discretion  – link   here

 

Translator : DarNan