Male Sing and His Pet Owner: Chapter 126

No sooner had Zhou Jiyang left than Bai Li arrived.

“I only vaguely told the outside world that you were unwell. The news is still being suppressed.” Bai Li sat by the bedside and finished briefing Zhan Hang, then turned to Zhao Kaile and asked, “What did the doctor say?”

Zhao Kaile replied, “He said Hang has a good foundation, so he’ll recover faster than an average person. But the after effects in his ear might not recover as quickly.”

Bai Li immediately furrowed her brow at this. “His ear? What’s wrong with his ear?”

Zhan Hang said, “Nothing major. A bit of ringing in the ears. Can’t hear too well.”

This condition wasn’t exactly serious but wasn’t exactly minor either. It would more or less affect his daily work and life. But fortunately, with slow and careful recovery, it could always heal. And the problem lay right in that word: recovery.

How long would it take to recover? During the recovery period, could absolute secrecy be maintained? How could he maintain an active appearance in his fans’ eyes during this time? When thought through carefully, it was all problems.

Encountering such misfortune at the peak of his popularity, looking back and forth across ten years, there was probably no one in the industry with a more tragic fate than Zhan Hang.

The more Bai Li thought about it, the more her head hurt, and she couldn’t help but let out a sigh.

Zhan Hang of course knew what she was troubled about. He said rather carelessly, “I can move. I’m not as delicate as you think. I could be discharged tomorrow.”

Zhao Kaile and Feng Biqin objected at the same time: “How could that be okay?”

Zhan Hang: “…”

Feng Biqin said to Bai Li with displeasure, “Miss Bai, Zhan Hang is already injured this badly. You can’t possibly make him go to work in this condition. Even ordinary company employees get leave when they suffer a work injury.”

Bai Li smiled bitterly, “Please don’t be nervous… The company will definitely make proper arrangements. We’re just discussing some follow up plans right now. You know his schedule for the past two years has been completely full. The work he’ll have to turn down because of this injury will only increase.”

Zhao Kaile added, “The doctor said he needs to stay hospitalized for at least another month for observation, and only after confirming there are no other after effects can he be discharged.”

A month long gap was undoubtedly a severe blow to an artist in the rising phase of his career. Bai Li also felt somewhat at a loss. After thinking for a moment, she turned to Zhao Kaile and asked, “Does your phone still have any daily photos of him that haven’t been posted yet?”

This question caught Zhao Kaile off guard. He hesitantly took out his phone and flipped through the album. Most of it was filled with Zhan Hang’s reaction memes and blooper clips, plus some parody footage where he talked to the camera and did voiceovers for Zhan Hang.

“There are quite a few. I can’t find anything postable off the top of my head.” Zhao Kaile laughed awkwardly. “I’ll send them to you for a look after I find them later?”

Bai Li sighed again, nodded, and chatted with Zhan Hang for a full two hours before picking up her bag and leaving.

Night fell. Feng Biqin took a call and had to go. Before leaving, she nagged and nagged, giving the two of them a whole pile of instructions. When Zhao Kaile went downstairs to see her off, he also saw her current boyfriend. He was a tall man with deep set eyes and brows, carrying himself with a bit of an elite air, very gentlemanly toward Feng Biqin.

“Go back.” Feng Biqin said to Zhao Kaile. “Keep an eye on little Hang. Don’t let him keep thinking about playing on his phone. It’s bad for his eyes.”

“Got it.” Zhao Kaile replied, then politely nodded at the man as a greeting.

The two drove off.

The man glanced in the rearview mirror, saw that she was in a pretty good mood, and knew that Zhan Hang’s condition was basically stable. So he smiled and asked, “Who was that just now?”

“Godson. Just recognized him not long ago.” Feng Biqin said with a bit of pride. “Good looking, right?”

“Good looking.” The man smiled. “Why did you suddenly think of recognizing a godson? Is he a work partner of Zhan Hang’s?”

Feng Biqin was stumped by the question. She smoothed back her hair, then stammered and changed the subject.

These past few days, Zhao Kaile had only hurriedly gone back to the hotel once or twice while Zhan Hang was dozing off to pack up his things. The rest of the time he was basically keeping him company at the hospital, staying up until dark circles appeared under his eyes. Now he still had to find daily photos of Zhan Hang that could be used to maintain the illusion of normal business activity from among countless videos and photos in his phone album. The pressure was even greater.

When Zhan Hang saw him frowning and looking miserable, he crooked his finger to signal him to bring his phone over for a look.

Zhao Kaile was a bit embarrassed. “Better not…”

What if he saw something he shouldn’t and his wound split open from anger.

Zhan Hang frowned and scolded, “What’s there that I can’t see? What haven’t I seen? Hand it over!”

Zhao Kaile had no choice but to hand him the phone, then went to the side to type on his keyboard with a guilty conscience. Zhan Hang expressionlessly scrolled past several rows of reaction memes, tapped into a video with a pitch black cover, and after the darkness came Zhao Kaile’s face shoved right up against the lens.

In the video, Zhao Kaile first froze for a moment, then realized he had mixed up the front and rear cameras. After switching, the video showed Zhan Hang in the film set getting his face powdered by the makeup artist. Zhan Hang closed his eyes and pursed his lips, while Zhao Kaile made “uh pfft pfft pfft” sounds from his mouth, as if he were getting beaten up.

Zhan Hang: “…”

He switched to the next video. Zhan Hang was wearing costume and holding props, sparring with the martial arts director. Zhao Kaile was doing voiceovers for him again. Ha! Ha! Uh! Hmm! Yah! And so on.

He switched to the next video. In the footage, Zhan Hang expressionlessly took a bite of his boxed meal. Zhao Kaile dubbed in a pig snort. Zhan Hang looked over with a suspicious expression. The frame immediately went chaotic, as if it had been shoved into a pocket. Zhao Kaile’s voice said nothing nothing.

After watching these few videos that were only the tip of the iceberg, Zhan Hang completely lost the ability to look directly at the character he played in that costume.

Zhao Kaile said guiltily, “I told you not to watch…”

“How come The Sound didn’t invite you?” Zhan Hang said in admiration. “What a waste of talent.”

Zhao Kaile: “…”

Zhan Hang added, “Those haters are still racking their brains scouring the internet for dirt on me. They should just buy it from you directly, honestly.”

Zhao Kaile had no choice but to say sincerely, “I’m sorry! I’ll never film these again!”

Zhan Hang irritably tossed the phone back to him, reached out a hand, and signaled him to come over and help him lie down. Zhao Kaile eagerly went over to half support him, pulling away the stacked pillows behind his back. That night, Zhao Kaile flipped through his album for a long time before finally finding a few daily photos that hadn’t been posted before, complaining bitterly as he sent them to Bai Li.

He ended up staying for a full month. This hospital stay was actually the most comfortable period Zhao Kaile had felt since becoming Zhan Hang’s assistant.

There was no endless work, no running around to events, no social obligations he couldn’t turn down. Just him and Zhan Hang together every day, with endless things to talk about and endless bickering. When they got bored, he would push Zhan Hang out to the lawn outside to sunbathe and space out together. Whatever was being argued about online and what consequences it had seemed completely irrelevant to them.

Very few people came to visit the hospital. One reason was that the news was tightly suppressed. Another was that those who knew basically didn’t have time to come. The only ones who came were Yu Zhengfeng and Song Yiming, all brothers in arms forged during the filming of “Sharp Sword.” As for Zhang Wenqian, Yao Miner, and the others, they only expressed concern through a few phone calls and WeChat messages, and had people deliver gifts, but didn’t come to the hospital in person.

“I thought they would at least come once.” Zhao Kaile peeled today’s apple for Zhan Hang on the side, his expression a bit wistful. “I didn’t expect not even once.”

Zhan Hang said indifferently, “What would they come for? To sit there and stare blankly? Your goddess’s career is booming. Where would she find time for this kind of surface level courtesy.”

However, Zhao Kaile had long since become immune to his venomous tongue. He consoled himself, “Forget it. It’s actually good they didn’t come. What if they brought paparazzi? That would be even more troublesome.”

Zhan Hang said, “Now you know what they mean when they say when the tree falls, the monkeys scatter? Did you really think I was just saying those things to scare you?”

“Don’t say it like that.” Zhao Kaile cut a piece of apple and fed it to him. “Everyone is just busy with their own work. Didn’t they all send gifts?”

Zhan Hang’s face was expressionless. He crunched and crunched on the apple, saying nothing more.

The vacation was comfortable, but Zhan Hang still paid attention to online developments. After all, in this era of rapidly spreading internet information, a month was enough time for netizens to forget a face that wasn’t all that familiar. Losing presence was a terrible thing. During this month, the new drama starring Zhao Jingran and Zhang Wenqian premiered. Song Yiming recorded a wildly popular variety show. Ou Xiaoqin played the piano in a fairy dress in a video so beautiful it went viral. Everyone was steadily advancing toward their own goals, while information related to the name Zhan Hang online was rapidly decreasing.

It would be a lie to say he wasn’t anxious.

Zhao Kaile could also feel that his emotions were clearly starting to fluctuate. The frequency of his temper flares was clearly higher than before. And it wasn’t the usual cold sarcasm kind of temper. It was a silent kind of despair.

Every time it got late at night and Zhan Hang couldn’t fall asleep, Zhao Kaile would lean over the bedside and coax him, comforting him over and over again.

“People who truly love you won’t forget you, Hang. True fans will definitely stay.” Zhao Kaile said with emotion.

Zhan Hang said, “That’s exactly why the pressure is so huge, okay!”

Zhao Kaile: “…”

“You don’t understand.” Zhan Hang said to him with his back turned, as if in a huff.

Zhao Kaile said seriously, “I do understand! Just like my readers chasing after me, cursing me while demanding updates. The pressure is huge too!”

Zhan Hang sighed, then rolled over and looked at him.

Zhao Kaile had clean brows and eyes. When he spoke to him, his gaze was very focused, as if always in a state of being on call. Zhan Hang couldn’t help but reach out and pinch his cheek, saying with a hint of a smile, “Yeah. How I envy you.”

Zhao Kaile didn’t understand. Zhan Hang raised his brow, leaned over, and kissed his lips.

At the end of June, the doctor stood in the hospital room and said to Zhan Hang, “The wound is healing very well. Any dizziness, nausea, or ringing in the ears recently?”

Zhan Hang shook his head, then paused and said uncertainly, “Sometimes there’s ringing in the ears, but it doesn’t happen often.”

The doctor said, “Keep taking the medication I prescribed before. Maintain good sleep habits.”

Zhao Kaile nodded repeatedly. “Okay, okay.”

Zhan Hang asked, “Can I be discharged?”

“Tomorrow.” The doctor adjusted his glasses and said, “Come back for a checkup in a month.”