Male Sing and His Pet Owner: Chapter 78

More than ten minutes later, the second half of the show recording continued.

“What did you say to Xiaoqin at that time?” The host asked Zhan Hang with a smile, seemingly trying to set a trap for him. “You two seem to have a very good relationship. Did you know each other before?”

“I’ve heard her songs.” Zhan Hang smiled and said, “I really admire her talent. This is my first formal interaction with her on the show. Thank you to the production team for giving me this opportunity… I just asked her two simple questions. The first was whether her leg hurt. The second was whether she wanted to win.”

Ou Xiaoqin made a gesture of gratitude and said embarrassedly, “Yes, I found that Brother Hang is truly a very responsible warm guy. Not only does he take good care of his teammates, but he also values the competition score very much. Honestly, I never thought there would be such a method…”

“I didn’t think of it either!” Sun Yimin immediately chimed in, making an exaggerated expression. “Is this something a carbon-based lifeform could come up with!”

Zhan Hang reached out and made a gesture like he was going to hit him. The crowd burst into laughter.

The recording atmosphere was harmonious and pleasant. Zhao Kaile was bored waiting offstage, so he clicked in to check the comments under the clarification video he had posted earlier.

As expected, Hang’s fans were still in a joyful mood. Some praised Zhan Hang for still looking good with no makeup on camera. Some said his character was widely recognized as good in the industry and they didn’t know where those gossip rumors came from. Others said that although he was pixelated, the little assistant seemed quite handsome too, and his speech was adorably silly…

Zhao Kaile was silent for a while, then couldn’t help but click into that highly upvoted comment to see the replies below.

Comment 1: I thought so too! Oh my god! Sister!

Comment 2: Brother Hang’s gaze is so doting, I’m dead, I’m dead, I’m dead!

Comment 3: Found the main force! Tears in my eyes!

Comment 4: Already shipping them, already shipping them. This isn’t an artist and assistant, this is a couple’s daily life!!

Comment 5: They have half a head’s height difference, hehehe, so well matched!

Below were hundreds of comments following the trend, and some even wrote fanfiction directly in the comments section. It truly gave Zhao Kaile a massive shock.

The more he looked, the more alarmed he became. He thought, is it really that serious? You can ship them even with pixelation?! A doting gaze?? How could you tell??

Zhao Kaile frowned and pulled the video’s progress bar back, rewatching it. Zhan Hang had only turned his head to look at him when he said the line “Brother Hang treats me very well,” and curved the corner of his mouth. Other than that, there were no other unnecessary movements or expressions.

He closed this Weibo post with a dark expression, casually refreshed, and another post popped up with the hashtag #ZhanHangTransfersAffectionToOuXiaoqin, HangQianRomanceEnds#. He clicked in and saw that the attached images were indeed the nine-grid collage of Zhan Hang carrying Ou Xiaoqin on his back. In the comments, it was a chaotic free-for-all among the three families of CP fans and solo fans. Among them, Ou Xiaoqin’s fanbase was the smallest and clearly at a disadvantage. But it was undeniable that all the posts carrying this keyword brought a significant portion of attention to her personally.

Zhao Kaile’s heart jumped in alarm. He thought, that was close. If he had posted this image using Zhan Hang’s Weibo account at that time, they would have been even harder pressed to explain themselves.

The recording work for the final episode of “Unnatural Events” Season One officially ended. When wrapping up, everyone stood together for a group photo. Ou Xiaoqin had the lowest status and seemed to be intentionally or unintentionally marginalized, squeezed to the very edge. In the middle stood Jiang Chongyang, Sun Yimin, and another female guest. Zhan Hang found this kind of scene annoying, so he went to stand beside Ou Xiaoqin on his own, leaving the originally fairly central position empty. The male guest beside him looked surprised, then tentatively moved into Zhan Hang’s position.

The photographer saw that everyone had stopped moving, then loudly counted down and pressed the shutter.

As the group dispersed, Sun Yimin passed by Zhan Hang’s side, carrying a hint of seemingly present yet absent mockery, smiling as he patted his shoulder. “Brother Hang really likes playing the hero saving the beauty.”

Zhan Hang remained unmoved, raised an eyebrow and retorted, “Envious?”

“…” Sun Yimin maintained his smile. “A little.”

Zhan Hang raised an eyebrow, tossed out a light and breezy “You still need more practice,” and left with Zhao Kaile.

The variety show was over, and there was no need to continue acting out brotherly affection. Sun Yimin was left standing there, feeling very uncomfortable, annoyed as he licked his lip.

His assistant hurried over to comfort him. “Don’t be angry, Minmin. Let’s not bother with this kind of has-been.”

“I think he’s pretty good at hyping things up.” Sun Yimin humphed. “Like he’s never seen a woman before, getting all worked up at the sight of a pretty one… And this Ou Xiaoqin is quite the actress too. In front of me she’s the pure jade maiden, but after getting carried by Zhan Hang she turns into a wanton woman, constantly clinging to him. What a flirt??”

His assistant mocked along with him. “Probably just a case of a tortoise eyeing a mung bean, seeing eye to eye.”

On the other end, Zhao Kaile also followed behind Zhan Hang, indignant. “What was Sun Yimin’s attitude! You’re at least the second brother of Qihua! He hasn’t even officially risen to the top yet and he’s already trying to step on you! He’s dreaming!”

Zhan Hang said nonchalantly, “Let him be arrogant. When his arrogance goes too far, someone will deal with him.”

Zhao Kaile opened the car door for him, then climbed into the driver’s seat himself, angrily pressing the horn.

“Hey, Assistant Zhao, I, the second brother of Qihua himself, am not even angry.” Zhan Hang pointed at himself with his finger, teasing. “Why is your temper getting bigger and bigger.”

Zhao Kaile said indignantly, “I kind of want to kick him too. Can you teach me a couple moves?”

“…” Zhan Hang completely couldn’t understand his thought process. He said in disbelief, “Can you learn something good? Want me to go from a has-been to a criminal?”

Zhao Kaile stepped on the gas angrily, focused on driving, and stopped talking.

Zhan Hang leaned back against the seat, holding up his phone. He appeared to be expressionlessly reading a novel, but actually aimed the camera at Zhao Kaile. Then he extended two fingers to zoom in on the screen image and pressed the shutter, secretly recording the image of his little assistant’s slightly puffed up cheeks.

That evening, Bai Li sent a message to Zhao Kaile on WeChat, asking how Zhan Hang’s consideration was going.

Zhao Kaile was silent for a moment, understanding that she didn’t want to have another direct confrontation with Zhan Hang, so she had tossed the difficult problem to him to act as the middleman. A superior’s orders had to be obeyed.

During the back scrubbing, Zhao Kaile made some idle small talk, then finally circled back and asked, “So… uh, Brother Hang, about those scripts, how have you thought about them?”

Zhan Hang’s hands rested casually on the edge of the bathtub, eyes closed as he asked, “Bai Li came to you again?”

Zhao Kaile made an uneasy sound of agreement, nervously glancing at his foam-covered head.

Zhan Hang said indifferently, “Stall, don’t reply.”

“Oh.” Zhao Kaile scrubbed his hair a couple of times, then said slowly, “Actually, I think we should find another opportunity to have a serious talk with Sister Li? Fundamentally, you definitely wouldn’t harm yourself, and she wouldn’t do anything unfavorable to you either. Your goals are completely aligned. If there’s a disagreement, it must be a problem with the communication method.”

Zhan Hang said coldly, “She changed a long time ago.”

Zhao Kaile: “Huh?”

“You don’t know what she used to be like.” Zhan Hang tilted his head back slightly, let out a comfortable sigh, and squinted as he said, “Back then when I had just debuted, Brother Dong and Sister Ying hadn’t risen to fame yet, that guy Sun Yimin didn’t even know where he was, Xie Lin had just joined the company… Bai Li was good to everyone. It was the kind of good like family, not like now, treating us like products on an assembly line.”

Zhao Kaile listened in a daze, then subconsciously objected, “But Sister Li, she…”

“She treats you very well, right.” Zhan Hang said with a hint of mockery. “Who doesn’t treat you well, Zhao Kaile. I’m really so jealous of you.”

Zhao Kaile: “…”

Zhan Hang leaned his head back, looking up at him. “You need to separate emotions and interests more clearly. When they conflict, you won’t feel hurt. Understand?”

The bathroom lights were warm and bright. Zhan Hang’s gaze was deep, carrying a rare trace of gentleness in his eyes.

Zhao Kaile frowned slightly in sadness, his fingers hesitating for a long while, then said softly, “Then can I help you reply to her? I’ll have a good talk with her once, maybe she’ll agree.”

Zhan Hang looked at him, curved the corner of his mouth in an indifferent manner. “Up to you.”

Past nine, Zhao Kaile sat in front of the computer searching everywhere for classic high-rated military dramas, trying to use facts and data to persuade Bai Li.

Unfortunately, after he finished his statistics, he discovered that there was only one drama that was both critically acclaimed and commercially successful. It starred two major television emperors acting together. All the other supporting roles and extras were name actors. Everyone’s acting was online, and not a single person dragged the team down. Apart from this, other dramas of the same type and theme either had high ratings but cold viewership, or had explosive viewership but ratings that didn’t even reach half the passing line. Most of the audience was just watching to curse and complain.

“…” Zhao Kaile held his head in pain, thinking, damn it! How am I supposed to use this data to convince Sister Li!!

Before he could reply, the WeChat notification sounded again.

Bai Li: How is it, Kaile? Did Zhan Hang say anything?

Zhao Kaile: He said… he’ll think about it some more.

Bai Li: #smile

Bai Li: He wants to keep stalling until I give in first, right?

Zhao Kaile: …

You two really understand each other quite well! Why don’t you just communicate via brain waves already!

Bai Li: The current market has no prospects for military dramas, Kaile. You need to make Zhan Hang face this reality.

Zhao Kaile: But this script is really good… Sister Li, why don’t you take a look too? I guarantee you’ll think it’s good after reading it!

Bai Li: Of course Sister has looked at it, but whether a drama can become popular or flop isn’t built solely on a script. Besides that, it needs a good director, a good team, and funding support. It’s not that if the script is good, the drama will be good.

Zhao Kaile: Right, right, what you said is right… but, but since Brother Hang wants to try it so much, just let him try it. At worst, it can be like before where he runs both sides at the same time…

He regretted it as soon as he said it, thinking, I’m really not human! Wouldn’t this exhaust Brother Hang to death again!

Bai Li: The odds of this drama exploding are too small, Kaile. I don’t think it’s necessary to waste any time on it. Do you understand what I mean?

Zhao Kaile: I understand… I’m sorry…

Late at night, Zhao Kaile still sat in front of the computer, lost in thought, staring blankly at Bai Li’s chat window.

Wait a minute…

I clearly came to persuade Sister Li!

How did I end up getting persuaded by her instead!