Male Sing and His Pet Owner: Chapter 70

“Don’t be fooled by his polite smile now. He used to be super cringey.” Zhou Jiyang felt around in his pocket with one hand, seemingly wanting a cigarette, but came up empty. He continued talking: “Acting like the whole world owed him something. Even when filming, he had this whole non-mainstream vibe.”

Zhao Kaile raised his eyebrows slightly.

He figured that whole wife-swapping party incident was probably part of how Zhan Hang had offended people.

Seeing that Zhao Kaile didn’t seem very happy, Zhou Jiyang hurriedly said: “I’m not speaking ill of him. We’ve always been like this, exposing each other’s old embarrassing stories. We’re used to it.”

“No, I just think Brother Hang has had it pretty hard,” Zhao Kaile said to him. “I know you two have a good relationship.”

Zhou Jiyang looked even more horrified upon hearing this, putting on an appearance of wanting to draw a clear line with Zhan Hang, waving his hands: “No no, our relationship isn’t good at all. We argue when we chat, fight when we meet.”

Zhao Kaile looked at him in bewilderment, even more confused.

“You don’t need to worry too much. The circle renews itself very quickly,” Zhou Jiyang said. “This batch of people, those who should fade out are fading out, those who should transition are transitioning. These past two years, Zhan Hang has been doing much better than before.”

Zhao Kaile nodded.

The two fell silent for a moment.

Zhao Kaile asked: “What about you? Did you just return to the country? Are you also an actor?”

“I’m just someone muddling through life,” Zhou Jiyang rubbed his nose, smiling: “Went abroad to gild myself with gold, came back to continue being a salted fish, lying flat.”

Zhao Kaile showed an envious look: “That’s so nice.”

He still didn’t realize Zhou Jiyang was teasing him. After all, there was still some gap between a rich second generation salted fish and an ordinary salted fish.

Zhou Jiyang said jokingly: “Hey, I actually envy you guys for having this kind of hardworking, upward striving spirit. Every day is so fulfilling.”

Zhao Kaile answered slowly: “Actually, I wouldn’t mind handing this lifestyle over to you.”

Zhou Jiyang laughed uncontrollably, and they exchanged contact information, officially becoming friends.

The stage lights were dim, deliberately using cool-toned lighting to create a suspenseful and thrilling atmosphere. As the music started, several people appeared one by one. All the guests present were wearing ancient-style casual clothes provided by the production team. After introducing themselves to each other, they stood in a row listening to the host introduce today’s mission.

The applause below the stage gradually diminished. Some people were quietly discussing the various artists’ appearances. From time to time, flashes of camera lights went off, followed by suppressed laughter.

After the host finished the introduction, the guests began trading banter with each other. Sun Yimin’s variety show sense was indeed good. He maintained his energetic little brother persona, but for some unknown mentality, he always had to cue Zhan Hang, forcing Zhan Hang to put in twelve points of effort, keeping the corners of his mouth raised, concentrating fully on dealing with it.

Fortunately, the mysterious boss’s monster voice rang out in time, interrupting the exchange between everyone.

“Welcome, fellow warriors, to the Tianyue Inn. Please come in.”

As the words fell, the lights went out again. A beam of light hit the center of the stage. A dilapidated wooden door appeared before everyone’s eyes. On the crooked plaque were four characters: Tianyue Inn. White mist rose from below, making it even more eerie.

The two female guests gasped in surprise, involuntarily looking at the other men. Zhao Jingran was already standing at the very back. Following their gaze, he turned around together with them, deliberately pretending not to see, causing a burst of laughter from below the stage.

Sun Yimin and Zhan Hang stood at the front, politely deferring to each other, putting on an appearance of brotherly affection. Sun Yimin said politely: “Brother Hang, you go first. How can a younger brother walk in front of his older brother?” Zhan Hang said politely: “Little brother, you go first. Your brother definitely won’t fight you for this limelight.”

However, after talking for half a day, neither moved forward. Everyone laughed uncontrollably. Deng Xiaoran simply couldn’t bear to watch anymore. She rolled up her sleeves and rushed to the very front, striding proudly like a big sister: “Move aside, move aside.” So the men all admitted defeat and followed obediently behind her, pushing open the dilapidated folding door.

The music started again. A white shadow floated by with a whoosh, causing gasps throughout the venue.

Deng Xiaoran and another female artist ran to the back of the group in terror again. Zhao Jingran reached out and pushed Sun Yimin in. Sun Yimin was caught off guard and bumped into the white shadow. The white shadow let out a rough roar: “You hurt me!” The voice actually came from a burly male NPC.

The audience below immediately burst into roaring laughter. Zhao Kaile laughed so hard he nearly sprayed out his drink, laughing uncontrollably: “The scriptwriter is too talented…”

During the intermission, Zhao Kaile went over to give Zhan Hang water. Zhou Jiyang was still following. Jiang Chongyang even specially greeted him, so among the artists, whether they knew Zhou Jiyang or not, they all had to take an extra look at him, lest they offend someone they shouldn’t offend.

Zhan Hang couldn’t act too improperly with him in front of everyone, so he only asked with a fake smile: “Why are you still here?”

“Watching the show,” Zhou Jiyang said with his hands in his pockets, in a casual manner: “Haven’t been back for a few years. Seeing if domestic variety shows have improved.”

Zhan Hang expressionlessly let Zhao Kaile adjust his headpiece, saying: “It’s still the same old stuff.”

“I think it’s somewhat interesting,” Zhou Jiyang said. “Ancient-style immersive case investigation. There’s only one of its kind. The heat definitely won’t be low. Kaile, don’t you think so?”

Zhao Kaile gave an “mm,” saying quite seriously: “But I think the persona the director gave has Brother Hang tied up.”

Zhou Jiyang said: “Didn’t he also play devoted male second leads and gentle princes before? How is he tied up?”

Zhao Kaile pressed his fingers against the side of Zhan Hang’s temple, gently doing eye exercises for him: “I don’t know either… hard to say.”

Zhan Hang answered lazily with his eyes closed: “What he means is, I can’t let loose.”

Zhou Jiyang raised his eyebrows looking at Zhao Kaile, who nodded vigorously. “…” Zhou Jiyang asked with a complicated expression: “You two have already progressed to the level of barrier-free spiritual communication?”

Zhan Hang raised his foot wanting to kick him again, then suddenly remembered this was the backstage area with people coming and going, so he barely held back.

Zhao Kaile had originally wanted to ask the reason, but when he looked up and saw Sun Yimin chatting and laughing with the makeup assistant, he understood. After all, when Zhan Hang filmed before, his co-stars were either pretty and cute or sexy and alluring women, not these big guys in front of him whom he found annoying at first sight. Forcing him to be gentle and considerate, he really couldn’t be considerate. At most, his tone would naturally soften a bit when communicating with female guests.

When the second half began, a scene reenactment would be inserted. The artists each drew cards, entered their roles, and acted according to the plot given by the mysterious boss.

Actually, this arrangement was equivalent to a live stage play being inserted. Acting skills, line delivery ability, and so on would be plainly presented before the audience’s eyes, clear at a glance. Zhao Kaile thought this was Bai Li’s connections taking effect, because Sun Yimin and Zhan Hang’s scenes took up slightly more than others, and Zhan Hang even had a solo fight scene with a masked NPC.

But Zhou Jiyang laughed: “Jiang Chongyang doesn’t like doing petty tricks in this kind of segment. That would be boring. The card drawing is random.”

Zhao Kaile let out an “ah”: “Then what if Deng Xiaoran and the others draw Brother Hang’s role?”

“Then they fight too,” Zhou Jiyang said. “Anyway, the martial arts instructor wouldn’t go hard on them.”

Zhao Kaile nodded, feeling a bit nervous in his heart, silently sweating for Zhan Hang.

He had an inexplicable premonition that this was a very important turning point.

Sure enough, when it reached the fight scene, the audience below was silent, completely stunned.

Zhan Hang stood with his back to the audience, his spine straight under a spotlight, holding a sword behind his back with one hand. Sound effects burst out. Another flash of sword light passed. Zhan Hang reacted extremely quickly, sidestepping, holding his sword horizontally, clashing with the opponent, producing a clear ringing sound. With his movements, his sleeves and hair ribbon swayed gently, every movement dashing and unrestrained.

The person in black coldly provoked him. Zhan Hang’s voice came through the microphone, steady and powerful, his gaze very resolute. When the words fell, he gave a loud shout, reversed his hand and thrust out a sword, officially beginning the battle!

In the background music, the sounds of zithers and harps combined with drumbeats frequently emerged. The stage lights flickered bright and dark, creating a tense and exciting atmosphere. Two follow spots continuously moved back and forth with the fighting pair. This martial arts scene had no wirework, no special effects, and certainly no so-called slow motion. It was completely a contest of skills honed day after day for ten years.

When the drumbeats stopped, the flute sound rose. The sword was sheathed. The person in black clutched his chest and fell unwillingly. The light gradually brightened. Zhao Jingran walked out slowly with a horizontal flute. On the background large screen appeared a rustling bamboo forest. Paired with his white robes, he truly had the jade-like bearing of a peerless gentleman.

The audience below had originally been stunned, but now finally came back to their senses, unable to help screaming one after another. Applause rose like tidewater. Among them were people shouting the two people’s CP name, clearly shipping them like crazy again.

Zhou Jiyang saw that Zhao Kaile had been silent for a long time and thought he was unhappy again, hurriedly saying: “Hey, young girls nowadays just like making these CP things. As long as two handsome guys appear in the same frame, they go crazy.”

“Brother Hang is so amazing,” Zhao Kaile murmured.

Zhou Jiyang was instantly speechless.

He had a dark expression, wiping his face with his hand, thinking to himself that he was really worrying about nothing.

When they went back in the evening, Zhou Jiyang shamelessly insisted on going back with them to have dinner.

Zhan Hang was clearly not very willing, but after not seeing each other for so long, refusing even a meal would make him seem too petty, so he had no choice but to agree reluctantly. Zhao Kaile was overjoyed, because in his heart he had always felt Zhan Hang had no friends. It was rare to have a friend willing to grace them with his presence at home, so of course he was very welcoming. He immediately contacted the housekeeping aunt via WeChat, telling her to prepare one extra portion of dinner.

Zhan Hang and Zhou Jiyang sat in the last row. Zhao Kaile didn’t want to disturb them catching up, so he sensibly sat in the front. This caused Zhan Hang to look at Zhou Jiyang with even more displeasure.

“Hehe.” Zhou Jiyang knew what he was unhappy about and smiled cheekily: “How about I crash at your place for the night?”

Zhao Kaile and Zhan Hang simultaneously said: “Of course, that’s great.” “Get lost.”

Silence fell in the car for a moment.

Zhou Jiyang laughed heartily: “Just kidding, just kidding. I just wanted to see how that gift I gave you before is doing.”

Zhan Hang frowned in confusion: “What gift?”

Zhou Jiyang said: “That PSP.”

“…” Zhan Hang shifted his gaze, pretending to be relaxed and letting out an “oh.”