Male Sing and His Pet Owner: Chapter 40

The next day, Zhao Kaile checked Zhan Hang’s Weibo and discovered that a massive wave of Zhao Jingran’s fans had flooded the comments section. Hang’s fans fought back with all their might, but the opposing side’s combat power was simply too strong. They were getting demolished even on their own territory.

Zhao Kaile was terrified half to death and hurriedly sent a message to Bai Li. Bai Li signaled him not to panic, that she was already handling it.

When he arrived at the production set, everyone who had seen the current trending topics was looking at Zhan Hang with strange expressions. Zhan Hang looked back at them, and the people looking at him would then avert their gazes, leaving Zhan Hang completely baffled.

“What the hell.” Zhan Hang grabbed Zhao Kaile and asked, “Do you feel like they’re all looking at me?”

Zhao Kaile blinked his eyes sincerely and said, “You’re so handsome, of course everyone wants to look at you a few more times. Brother Hang, don’t overthink it. Focus on your work. You got this!”

Zhan Hang was still full of suspicion, but filming was about to start, so he had no choice but to set aside this confusion and quickly enter his work mode.

Around nine o’clock, the trending topics indeed changed again.

From a string of “Zhan Hang’s Violence,” “Zhan Hang Beats Zhao Jingran’s Assistant,” “Zhan Hang Publicly Insults Zhao Jingran’s Assistant,” they became “Zhao Jingran Steps Forward to Clarify,” “Zhao Jingran and Zhan Hang’s Friendship Endures,” “The Jing Hang Banner Never Falls,” and so on. Zhao Kaile clicked into Zhao Jingran’s Weibo with a head full of question marks. He saw that Zhao Jingran’s latest post was that intimate photo of the two of them with their arms around each other, captioned: Zhan Hang and I are iron buddies. Everyone, don’t make wild guesses.

The two handsome guys in the photo were beaming with joy, sunshine and radiance, the picture of deep brotherly affection. You couldn’t tell at all that they might have any private conflicts.

The wind direction in the comments section instantly changed again. Zhao Jingran’s fans instantly changed their faces. Some were shouting “so cute, so cute.” Some had a sudden realization, feeling that they had believed rumors and misunderstood Zhan Hang. Some remained stubbornly unchanged, cursing that Zhan Hang had no traffic and was shamelessly leeching off their gege. But basically, they had already extracted Zhan Hang from the whirlpool of public opinion.

Zhao Kaile gasped in cold air, feeling deep respect for Bai Li.

On set, Li Yang and Zhan Hang were arguing. The older brother was scolding the younger brother. The younger brother was defiant and refused to be disciplined. The older brother, in a fit of anger, resorted to violence.

But when Li Yang had to slap him, he couldn’t bring himself to do it for the longest time. After repeated hesitation, he only made a fake slapping motion. Zhan Hang cooperatively turned his face to the side, reached out to cover half his own face, then looked up at him, his eyes full of disbelief.

Wang Hua shook his head and called cut.

Li Yang exhaled. Zhan Hang knew Wang Hua didn’t want this kind of fake motion, so he said to Li Yang, “It’s fine. Do it for real.”

“I…” Li Yang still didn’t quite dare. He turned to ask Wang Hua, “Director?”

Wang Hua held the megaphone and frowned, saying, “Push the emotion to the top. Don’t always hold back like this. What we want is a real hit.”

Li Yang had no choice but to nod.

The two of them prepared for a moment. Wang Hua signaled to restart the camera.

Li Yang’s eyes were full of fury. He cursed angrily, “You don’t know to repent!” Then he raised his hand high and slapped Zhan Hang heavily across the face. With a crisp smack, he sent Zhan Hang’s head turning to the side.

Zhan Hang stumbled a step, covering his face. He looked up, his eyes full of disbelief, which immediately transformed into anger. He glared at him fiercely, opening his mouth to deliver his lines.

The camera cut to Li Yang. Being glared at like this by Zhan Hang, the emotion he had finally managed to erupt was actually shattered again. His expression softened once more.

Wang Hua: “Cut!” He sighed at Li Yang, “How did you lose the emotion again?? Wasn’t it just fine a moment ago?”

Zhan Hang reined in his expression and moved his eyebrows at Li Yang. The latter was full of guilt and went up to check his face. “Sorry, sorry. Brother Hang, are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” Zhan Hang said, “You need to immerse yourself. Don’t keep jumping out. If you yourself don’t believe the character you’re playing is real, who else will believe you?”

Li Yang: “I, I’m afraid you’ll hurt.”

“…” Zhan Hang: “I’m the one getting hit and I’m not afraid. What are you being so wishy washy about? I’m not a vengeful person. Hit me with confidence.”

Li Yang agreed with a face full of hesitation.

Zhan Hang was speechless for a moment. He had thought Li Yang had stood out from the crowd of idol show trainees, so his personality should be quite tough. He hadn’t expected him to be this soft, like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.

The actor getting hit didn’t care, so Wang Hua cared even less. Zhan Hang took seven consecutive slaps before this scene barely passed.

When they came off set, there were very obvious five finger marks on Zhan Hang’s face. Zhao Kaile was stunned watching this and hurriedly dug out medicated cream to apply for him. While applying the medicine, Li Yang came over, sitting beside Zhan Hang with his hands tucked in, looking quite guilty, wrestling with himself, not knowing what to say.

Zhan Hang didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “What are you doing?”

“Brother Hang, don’t blame me…” Li Yang said weakly.

Jin Mengjie followed behind him and explained, “Yes, yes, Brother Hang, please don’t take it to heart. Our Yangyang definitely didn’t do it on purpose.”

Zhan Hang said helplessly, “I know. You don’t need to explain over and over.”

Zhao Kaile followed up, “Yeah, yeah. Our Hang Hang… Brother Hang is the most magnanimous. He’ll definitely forget all about it after one sleep! It’s all work needs. Everyone understands each other!”

“Ah, you don’t know…” Jin Mengjie showed a troubled expression, as if wanting to say something, but was pulled back by Li Yang and had to stop.

Zhao Kaile had a curious expression, looking at her, then at Li Yang, and asked sincerely, “Don’t know what?”

Jin Mengjie bit her lip and said in a deflated manner, “Yangyang was screwed over like this before, so now he’s very afraid of offending people.”

Zhan Hang somewhat remembered and asked, “That Blue Satellite TV reality show?”

“Yes, it was originally just for show effect, throwing a water bomb.” Jin Mengjie frowned and said, “The show said it so nicely, no problem, no problem, throw it however you want. Once the cameras were off, they said Yangyang was forming cliques, bullying, isolating and targeting him. Now that Yangyang has slightly made a name for himself, that person is clinging to this trivial matter as black material.”

Zhan Hang nodded, his gaze toward Li Yang carrying a slight hint of sympathy.

Zhao Kaile’s face scrunched up listening to this. “How could this happen… These people talk like they’re farting. Can he even have friends like this?”

“I don’t dare be friends with someone like that anyway.” Li Yang said with drooping brows and eyes. “I used to think he was pretty good, but I didn’t expect him to screw me over like that behind my back.”

Zhao Kaile encouraged him, “It’s fine! Our Brother Hang would never do something like this! If you have anything, you can speak to him directly with confidence!”

Zhan Hang: “…”

Li Yang’s eyes lit up. “Really? Brother Hang, can I add you on WeChat? I was actually already a fan of yours before I debuted.”

“So you were Brother Hang’s fan!!” Zhao Kaile was shocked. “Artists have idols too?”

Li Yang beamed with joy. “Of course.”

Jin Mengjie also laughed, “Originally Yangyang wanted to model himself after Brother Hang’s type, but his physique was a bit weak, so he didn’t manage to.”

The three chatted happily and harmoniously, their eyes shining simultaneously as they looked at Zhan Hang with anticipation.

The corner of Zhan Hang’s mouth twitched. “…Add me.”

A busy morning passed. Today’s scenes for “Langya Pavilion” were considered finished. Zhao Kaile put sunglasses and a mask on Zhan Hang, stuffed him into the car, and hurriedly rushed to the “Dream Song” production set to continue filming.

Zhan Hang sat in the car eating lunch without much flavor, occasionally glancing at Zhao Kaile. Zhao Kaile had to reply to a WeChat message every few bites of rice, quite busy. But even when busy, Zhao Kaile was always full of energy, as if nothing could interfere with his burning passion and grand ambitions.

“Assistant Zhao, how about I hire another helper for you?” Zhan Hang asked.

Zhao Kaile had an expression like he’d seen a ghost, looking at him with shock and uncertainty.

Zhan Hang: “Say something.”

Zhao Kaile asked, “What do you call an assistant’s assistant?”

“…” Zhan Hang said impatiently, “Who cares what you call it. Do you want one or not?”

Zhao Kaile shook his head repeatedly, “No, no, no. I can’t order people around, and besides, I can handle the workload right now.”

Zhan Hang nodded coolly.

Zhao Kaile chuckled, “Thanks, Brother Hang.”

Zhan Hang made a noncommittal sound, lowered his head to look at his phone, then asked, “That assistant of Li Yang’s, did she message you on WeChat about anything?”

“Not really.” Zhao Kaile opened his messages and looked, “Um… Just greetings, nothing else.”

Zhan Hang: “Don’t talk too much with her.”

“Why…” Zhao Kaile felt puzzled, “Didn’t everyone chat pretty well? Didn’t you also stop hating Li Yang so much?”

“Who told you I don’t hate him anymore, you could tell?” Zhan Hang raised an eyebrow and said, “Putting on a show. Do you think everyone looks like a good person? Zhao Kaile, don’t always be so naive. This isn’t your school.”

Zhao Kaile felt his worldview slowly crumbling. “…Why?? Why!!”

Zhan Hang said lightly, “No matter what group, they will slowly form their own small circles. Li Yang just leaped out from his previous social class, so of course he wants to recruit some new friends. What’s the use of having popularity but no connections? Otherwise who would play with him?”

“I thought he was really your fan.” Zhao Kaile lost his appetite upon learning the truth, put down his spoon and started cleaning up the trash, his tone downcast.

Zhan Hang was extremely disdainful, “Do I lack one fan of his?”

Zhao Kaile had a disappointed expression, “That’s not what I meant… I thought he would be like Wenqian, Sister Min’er and them, at least not this fake.”

The two looked at each other. Zhan Hang had an expression like he was watching a joke. Zhao Kaile put on a mask of pain.

“It’s not as scary as you think, but it’s also not as perfect as you imagine.” Zhan Hang said, “Just like the general public in society, you exchange hearts for hearts. In this circle, as long as someone doesn’t kick you when you’re down at the critical moment, that’s already pretty good.”

Zhao Kaile: “Oh.”

Zhan Hang reached out and smacked the back of his head, “Oh what oh, did you hear me? Don’t just meet someone for a few days, have them give you some good food and chat about some fun stuff, and then you pour your heart out to them. How stupid.”

“I won’t next time.” Zhao Kaile said with heavy sorrow.

The WeChat notification rang. Jin Mengjie sent a smiley face, asking what plans they had during their days off.

Zhao Kaile was still immersed in the shock of his worldview crumbling, and his hand slipped, sending the Zhan Hang meme he had saved in his favorites.

“!!!!!!”

Jin Mengjie: …

Zhao Kaile hurriedly retracted the message: You didn’t see it. You didn’t see anything.