Male Sing and His Pet Owner: Chapter 37

Li Wenyao looked at him with an expression of staring at an idiot: “No matter how popular he gets, you’re still an assistant. Still serving tea and water, doing laundry and cooking. His popularity isn’t your popularity.”

“Hey, I’m not staying because he’ll become popular.” Zhao Kaile said, “What I mean is, I want to watch him become popular, do you understand?”

Li Wenyao looked resistant: “I don’t want to understand.”

Zhao Kaile relaxed against the back of the chair, his gaze drifting aimlessly through the gaps in the leaves, lazily saying, “If he doesn’t become popular, I would feel extremely, extremely regretful. I see a very good, very sturdy little sapling, and I want to watch it grow into a towering tree, then bloom, then bear fruit.”

Li Wenyao didn’t say anything more, his brows slightly furrowed, still stubbornly thinking that continuing like this wasn’t very feasible.

He knew that after spending day and night together for several months, even without romantic feelings some attachment would develop. Not wanting to leave was only human nature.

“Yao-ge, I really haven’t been abused, haven’t been beaten.” Zhao Kaile still found it a bit funny, saying, “Look at my face, my arms, not a single injury, at most just a bit tanned from the sun.”

Li Wenyao hmphed: “Psychological abuse is also abuse. You know what PUA is? Verbal suppression, making you unable to build confidence, unable to accomplish things. Especially superiors to subordinates, happens all the time.”

“That is true……. Hang-ge’s mouth is too poisonous.” Zhao Kaile touched his chin, “But I know what he’s thinking in his heart is completely different from what he says out loud. It’s nothing.”

Li Wenyao said despairingly, “…….I think he has already succeeded at PUA.”

By late September, there were already signs of cooling down.

When packing luggage, Zhao Kaile specially took a few extra knit sweaters for Zhan Hang. He wanted to find something else, but searched through drawers and cabinets without finding it. Zhan Hang was brushing his teeth, heard him clattering around outside, and walked out with an impatient face, asking vaguely, “What are you looking for??”

“Looking for……. long underwear.” Zhao Kaile was full of question marks, “Hang-ge, you don’t have long underwear?”

Zhan Hang had a black line across his face: “No. Why would I wear that? To make my legs look thick?”

Zhao Kaile said helplessly, “It’ll be very cold if you don’t wear them…….”

Zhan Hang frowned and went back to brushing his teeth, saying vaguely, “I haven’t worn them in years. Stop looking. Pack up and let’s go.” Zhao Kaile was shocked thinking how could someone not wear long underwear! Freeze to death then!

They had to leave after six the next morning, so Zhao Kaile had to patiently persuade Zhan Hang to sleep early. He also asked Lu Jiayin for the new schedule and calculated the approximate timing, then went to reconnect with the cat sitter who had looked after KIKI and TITI, arranged everything properly before lying down with peace of mind.

The next day at seven, Zhao Kaile hurriedly got Zhan Hang to the set of that urban romance drama just in time. Second time around, he was no longer so confused and rushing around blindly. This time he knew who to find and coordinate with first upon entering the set, knew which people to call teacher, and which people didn’t need special attention.

However, this production had a gathering of big names. Even with Zhan Hang’s arrival, he didn’t receive very special treatment. The individual makeup rooms were all occupied by several invited first tier popular female guests. He casually sat in a spot, the makeup artist came up to greet him, and began testing his makeup.

Zhao Kaile stood nearby, his gaze drifting outside, his heart trembling every so often because there were simply too many big name stars passing by. Almost every single one he had seen on television.

Fortunately modern makeup was relatively simple and applied quickly. Zhan Hang seemed to be in a bad mood, his face expressionless the whole time. He didn’t even plan to wear the costume provided by the production, just wore his own clothes to take the promotional photos. The stylist was caught between laughing and crying, but felt his outfit wasn’t inappropriate, so didn’t stop him.

Zhao Kaile carried his bag, curiously watching the photographer work, quietly examining Zhan Hang through the lens, and discovered he really was a clothes hanger. Whatever he casually put on photographed well, enough to serve as promotional photos for a modern urban drama.

He was watching entranced when another noisy group arrived at the door.

A man with a feminine appearance opened his mouth to ask, “When is it our Jingran’s turn? How long have we been waiting?”

The reception staff hurriedly went up to greet him with a smile, “Almost ready, almost ready. Teacher Zhan Hang just arrived not long ago.”

“Isn’t he just an extra? Just snap a couple shots and be done with it. Our Jingran’s time is very tight.” That man raised his volume a bit more, his tone extremely sharp and biting, “Can we be more efficient?”

The staff smiled bitterly, “We’ll do it as soon as possible.”

This person intentionally made sure everyone could hear. Behind him, Zhao Jingran also seemed quite impatient, asking, “Who’s shooting?” The man immediately walked back a bit, fawningly saying to him, “It’s Zhan Hang. It’ll be done soon.”

Zhao Jingran frowned upon hearing this. He still remembered clearly what happened at the cocktail party before. Although Zhan Hang wasn’t as popular as him, he still had some apprehension toward this violent person, so he didn’t say anything more.

Zhao Kaile, who was standing relatively close, heard everything clearly. He raised his eyes to size up that sharp tongued man, frowning and thinking why does this person speak so passive aggressively, so punchable.

The photographer was completely unaffected, focused, saying, “Alright, last pose.”

After shooting, Zhan Hang came off stage. Zhao Kaile hurriedly went to lead him away, happily saying, “So handsome, Hang-ge!”

“Is that so, let’s see after the retouching.” Zhan Hang was unmoved, going to the graphic designer to look at the raw photos. Zhao Kaile followed behind to look. Zhan Hang looked at him, signaling for his opinion.

The graphic designer was a girl around twenty five or six, sighing with emotion, “Hang-ge, your skin is really good.”

“Yes yes!” Zhao Kaile said, “He applies body lotion every day, very attentive to skincare.”

“………” Zhan Hang reached out and gave the back of his head a smack, “I told you to look at the photos! What are you talking about!”

Zhao Kaile could only widen his eyes to look at the photos, “Hmm……. Uh……. Already very handsome, I don’t know what needs retouching…….”

The graphic designer held back laughter as she moved the mouse. Zhao Kaile watched and exclaimed in amazement, “Oh this change makes it even better looking…… Wow……. Wow! You’re amazing, sis!”

Zhan Hang was speechless, thinking anyway on the promotional poster it would just be a tiny corner, even if they photoshopped him into a ghost it wouldn’t matter.

The retouching didn’t take much time. The graphic designer said with a grateful face, “Hang-ge is truly the most easygoing artist I’ve ever met.”

Zhao Kaile: “……”

Are you serious!!

Zhan Hang wore a knowing expression, saying lightly, “It’s nothing, you all work hard too.”

The graphic designer lowered her voice, saying bitterly, “The last guy pointed at every pore on his face and made me retouch them one by one. I was truly speechless……. Who would zoom in that much to look at whether your pores are coarse or not!”

Zhao Kaile finally understood, and his gaze toward her was instantly filled with sympathy.

The two of them left the room. Zhao Kaile deliberately took another look at the man beside Zhao Jingran, curiously asking Zhan Hang, “Hang-ge, who is that person beside Zhao Jingran?”

“The new executive agent his company assigned him, called Zeng Jun. Famous in the industry for being a sissy.” Zhan Hang asked, “What’s wrong?”

Zhao Kaile thought for a moment, then said, “This person is no good.”

“What do you mean no good?” Zhan Hang said expressionlessly while walking, “Maybe really no good, impotent, that’s why he doesn’t act like a man, saying one sentence while raising his pinky finger, so effeminate.”

“……..” Zhao Kaile, “That’s not what I mean, just, he’s not a good person.”

Zhan Hang was amused by this way of speaking, “Not a good person, then who is a good person?”

Zhao Kaile said, “You are a good person, Wenqian is a good person, Sister Min’er is also a good person, Director Zhang is too, and Sister Jiayin, Xiao Li……..”

“You’re actually counting them out for me here!” Zhan Hang practically wanted to pry open his brain to see what was inside, “That’s from your perspective! In the eyes of struggling actors, I’m also a stumbling block on their road to success, okay!”

Zhao Kaile looked like he was begging for mercy, “Okay okay, I got it.”

The world isn’t black and white. The entertainment industry only has interest relationships.

Zhao Kaile was silent for a moment, still feeling very disgusted thinking of Zeng Jun’s sharp and bitter face. He only hoped that when filming started later, they wouldn’t have to clash with their side again.

However, the more you fear something the more it comes. Zhan Hang and Zhao Jingran had a fifteen second shared frame shot.

Before filming, the two politely smiled at each other. Zhao Kaile stood off set, deliberately staying far away from Zeng Jun. The girls around him were all quietly discussing which of the two great male gods looked more handsome in the same frame.

A female voice said, “Zhao Jingran’s side profile is truly absolute……. My god, what kind of little angel descended to earth!”

“I still prefer Zhan Hang……. Don’t you really think Zhao Jingran’s mouth looks a bit protruding from this angle?” Another voice said, “Why doesn’t he find time to get his teeth fixed.”

The female voice said speechlessly, “Stop talking!”

Another girl said, “Zhan Hang’s posture is really good looking. Zhao Jingran’s face is absolute, but he’s a bit hunchbacked.”

“But Zhao Jingran is just so cute!!” That female voice whimpered, hugging another girl who also liked Zhao Jingran as they screamed together.

“Yes! Yes! Who can resist a little puppy dog!!” Zhao Kaile stood expressionlessly to the side, thinking cute my ass, what use is cute when his presence is so lacking, how can this compare to our Hang-ge??

The girl who was more optimistic about Zhan Hang suddenly noticed him, came over and carefully asked, “Are you Zhan Hang’s assistant?”

“Huh?” Zhao Kaile came back to his senses and looked at her, “Yes yes.”

That girl covered her mouth in excitement, shook his hand, “Teacher hello teacher hello, I’m a fan of Zhan Hang.”

Zhao Kaile was caught between laughing and crying, “I’m not any teacher……. Thank you for supporting him.”

On set, Zhao Jingran put his arm around Zhan Hang’s shoulder in an intimate gesture. The two looked up at the sky together. Zhan Hang smiled slightly and began his lines.

This arm around the shoulder directly made the watching girls boil with excitement, all covering their faces and letting out small screams.

Zhao Kaile: “…….”

It was just a hug?? Why is everyone so excited!

Translation Notes:

PUA: Pick Up Artist, but in Chinese internet slang it has evolved to mean psychological manipulation and emotional abuse, particularly in relationships or workplace hierarchies. Li Wenyao uses it to suggest Zhan Hang is manipulating Zhao Kaile.