Male Sing and His Pet Owner: Chapter 81

This hug only lasted a brief few seconds. Zhao Kaile was afraid that if he held on too long, Zhan Hang would kick him away, so he withdrew his hands in time.

Zhan Hang was silent for a moment, then indeed snorted in contempt. He was about to say something when someone approached from not far away.

Zhao Kaile hurriedly pulled Zhan Hang’s mask back up for him and cautiously sized up the people behind them. But Zhan Hang said indifferently, “Those two combined are five times your age. They won’t recognize me.”

Hearing this, Zhao Kaile raised his eyebrows in surprise. When the two drew closer, he saw that they were indeed an elderly couple with graying hair. Their complexions were ruddy, they wore athletic wear, and the old lady kept saying something to her husband. The old man carried a hiking backpack on his back, nodding from time to time to indicate he was listening, and walked steadily toward the pavilion.

Seeing this scene, Zhao Kaile felt it was warm yet amusing. He couldn’t help but have a thought, thinking that if Brother Hang were in his fifties or sixties, he would probably also be an old man with an upright posture and a serious expression.

Zhan Hang got up to give them his seat, nodded to the elderly couple as a greeting, and led Zhao Kaile away.

In the afternoon the two continued strolling around. Zhao Kaile very much wanted to run through all the attractions he hadn’t played before, but unfortunately some places had queues that were simply too long. Just waiting in line would take quite a bit of time, greatly reducing their efficiency.

Past three, Zhan Hang received a phone call. It was from Bai Li.

“Where are you?” Bai Li asked. “The director of ‘Sharp Sword’ wants to chat with you first. Are you free this afternoon?”

Zhan Hang frowned in confusion, then swept a glance at Zhao Kaile, and asked into the phone, “What’s your opinion?”

Bai Li didn’t answer, only saying, “He wants to discuss the script with you, and your salary.”

Hearing this, Zhan Hang immediately understood and said coldly, “Isn’t it a low-budget Class A drama? They still have money to raise my salary?”

“Someone added investment.” Bai Li’s tone didn’t change. “The investors and production side are both quite interested in you. Besides the male lead personally appointed by the director, your salary is the highest among these people. As long as there’s money, everything is easy to handle. ‘Sharp Sword’ has now been upgraded to a Class S project, with a bit more momentum than before.”

Zhan Hang said, “I still want to hear your opinion.”

Bai Li was silent for a moment, then said, “I personally still stick to my original idea. Salary is just immediate profit.”

Zhan Hang felt a bit surprised.

It would be a lie to say he wasn’t happy. At least this proved that Bai Li wasn’t urging him to take shortcuts for her own immediate profit. She might indeed be different from before, but perhaps she still retained a little bit of her original intention toward him.

“Who invested the money?” Zhan Hang asked.

“Not sure, probably your fans.” Bai Li said, “Zhang Zheng recommended you to the ‘Sharp Sword’ director. Find some time to thank him.”

Zhan Hang: “Oh.”

“So?” Bai Li asked, “Are you free now? If you are, I’ll have Lu Jiayin directly arrange a place.”

Zhan Hang said, “I’ll reply to you on WeChat in five minutes.”

Bai Li: “Okay.”

Zhan Hang hung up the phone, looked down at Zhao Kaile, and thought about his wording.

Zhao Kaile kept looking back at him from time to time, only hearing Zhan Hang’s voice alone, vaguely inferring something, and proactively asked, “Was that Sister Li?”

Zhan Hang made a sound of agreement.

“Did you get work?” Zhao Kaile looked at the queue ahead, thought about it, and directly gave up on waiting in line. He said to Zhan Hang, “Let’s go.”

“…” Zhan Hang said with hatred for his lack of progress, “You don’t need to come! You waited in line all this time for nothing, you fool.”

Zhao Kaile couldn’t believe it. “You’re not bringing me??”

The few girls waiting behind them seemed to have been secretly observing the two for a long time. They hurriedly smiled at them, “It’s fine it’s fine, we won’t cut in line.” “Come come, come back little handsome guy, we’re saving your spot for you.”

“Up to you.” Zhan Hang said helplessly, then left with big strides.

Zhao Kaile thanked the girls, turned around and hurriedly caught up with him.

On the way back Zhan Hang was still driving. He had taken off his mask, and his expression still didn’t look very happy.

Zhao Kaile asked cautiously, “Brother Hang, are you angry?”

“No.” Zhan Hang said stiffly, “I’m not angry at you today.”

Zhao Kaile laughed heartily, “Didn’t you also say that going out alone isn’t fun… How can a boss go to work by himself while the employee keeps resting.”

Zhan Hang said unceremoniously, “What kind of idiot employee actively goes to work even on a day off?”

Zhao Kaile: “…”

Zhan Hang remembered something and asked him to help reply to a message for Bai Li. Zhao Kaile made a sound of agreement, reached out to take the phone from his pocket, unlocked it, and sent messages to both Bai Li and Lu Jiayin. Lu Jiayin quickly replied with a location and an emoji sticker. Zhao Kaile’s hand was fast and he also replied with an emoji sticker.

Lu Jiayin: …

Lu Jiayin: Brother Hang!! What’s wrong with you Brother Hang!!

Zhao Kaile: Sister Jiayin, it’s Kaile. Brother Hang is driving.

Lu Jiayin: You scared me… Be safe on the road, I’ll get back to work.

Zhao Kaile replied with an “mm mm,” and when he exited he saw his own WeChat was pinned to the top by Zhan Hang. This time he could see the note very clearly. After the name was a four-leaf clover icon.

Zhan Hang saw that he hadn’t reacted for a long time and asked cautiously, “What did Bai Li say?”

“Nothing.” Zhao Kaile startled, turned off the phone screen and stuffed it back into his pocket. “Sister Jiayin sent the location. I’ve set the navigation.”

Zhan Hang made a sound of agreement, then focused on driving, thinking about some issues he would soon face, and stopped talking.

Arriving at the designated coffee shop private room, Zhan Hang went in to meet and talk with the director, producer, and others. Zhao Kaile used the excuse of going to the bathroom and briefly slipped away.

The men’s restroom was very quiet. Zhao Kaile sat on the toilet lid, listening to the regular dripping sound, his heart still feeling a bit hollow. He had just specifically gone to Baidu to look up the flower language of the four-leaf clover. Happiness, waiting for love to appear, representing love, hope, confidence, and luck…

How could this be!!!!

Zhao Kaile was in chaos, thinking Brother Hang isn’t a straight guy! How could he pin his male assistant to the top! And note a four-leaf clover! This looks very gay no matter how you look at it!!

No no no…

Not necessarily. Maybe he also noted four-leaf clovers for other people, I just didn’t scroll to them. Pinning to the top is just for convenience of ordering around… More likely he simply thinks meeting me was lucky…

Brother Hang really seems to value me a lot…

Zhao Kaile suddenly saw the light, nodded with a serious expression, and propped his chin, earnestly gazing at the promotional slogan written on the door. His realm of thought instantly elevated. He began to blame himself in his heart for thinking of Zhan Hang too shallowly, while his admiration and worship for Zhan Hang rose to another level.

In the private room, Zhan Hang was chatting happily with several middle-aged men. The director deliberately put on a troubled expression and said, “Zhang Zheng said you’re very hardworking, not delicate or spoiled. Among the young actors of this generation you’re considered top-tier. As soon as I heard that, I wanted to find you to chat right away, but Bai Li kept making excuses and delaying…”

“It’s not her fault, I was indeed busy at the time.” Zhan Hang calmly took the blame for Bai Li, and said apologetically, “Isn’t it that as soon as I had free time I hurried to come see you. I’m personally very interested in this role, I’m just afraid I won’t pass your test.”

The director waved his hand and said, “Hey, I’ve seen your acting in ‘Green-Clad Guest.’ Little Hang, I have to say, your dramatic scenes have improved a lot.”

“It’s still Director Zhang’s profound skill.” Zhan Hang said modestly, “My level is still far from enough.”

“You’re being modest.” The director smiled at the others, pointing at him with his finger. “Young people should be modest. Many little traffic stars just don’t understand this. That one guy before, he was late every few days, couldn’t handle three or four NGs on one scene, and threw a tantrum. If you want me to endure that, I definitely can’t endure it. I directly told him to get lost.”

The crowd laughed. Zhan Hang knew this was entering the bragging and venting stage of pointing at mulberry trees while cursing locust trees and making insinuations. He cooperatively nodded, listening with a serious expression.

After the venting was done, the director finally chatted with him about the role and the script. Zhan Hang had already done his homework, sharing some of his thoughts and insights with him. The several people exchanged words one after another, clearly a conscientious team willing to spend effort and hard work on quality.

When the conversation neared its end, the director said with a smile again, “But when the time comes, you’ll need to make a slight sacrifice in terms of appearance. No problem, right?”

“Of course.” Zhan Hang said, “Sister Li has already told me.”

The director nodded, his expression very satisfied. He proactively exchanged contact information with him, saying he would send the notice as soon as possible.

Near six o’clock, the group dispersed.

After coming out to send everyone off, Zhan Hang looked left and right, still not seeing any trace of Zhao Kaile.

Lu Jiayin walked over, “Probably still in the bathroom.”

“This long?” Zhan Hang raised an eyebrow in confusion, “Constipated?”

Lu Jiayin didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, then remembered something and asked, “Is today Lele’s birthday?”

Zhan Hang made a sound of agreement, and said domineeringly, “If you have anything to give him, hurry up and bring it.”

“…” Lu Jiayin, “How about I treat him to dinner?”

Zhan Hang snorted in contempt.

Lu Jiayin said helplessly, “He already posted on his Moments about the figurines you bought him. It wouldn’t be interesting for me to give the same thing. Otherwise I’ll just send a red envelope…”

Just as the two were chatting, Zhao Kaile suddenly ran over from behind, out of breath, and asked nervously, “Brother Hang, when did you finish?!”

“Just finished.” Zhan Hang sized him up, “You just finished too?”

Zhao Kaile said speechlessly, “I was just borrowing their lounge area to write for a while…”

Lu Jiayin couldn’t stop laughing, reached out to pull him, “Okay okay, everyone’s here, let’s go eat. Today Sister Jiayin will treat you to Haidilao, okay?”

Hearing this, Zhao Kaile’s eyebrows instantly stopped drooping, “Yes yes yes yes!”

“Let’s go to the newly opened one in East City.” Lu Jiayin said, “Sister has wanted to go for a long time but never had the chance. Perfect timing to go together.”

The two walked side by side ahead, chirping away discussing what dishes to order in a moment, completely leaving Zhan Hang behind.

Zhan Hang: “…”

Author’s note:

Do you two even have a boss in your eyes! Huh?!