Chapter 2
The moment Jiang Chi saw the text message, his heart stopped.
Geng Tian was also taken aback.
Jiang Chi took a deep breath, and his brain quickly resumed operation after a two-second gap.
Ye Lan sent him a text message, asking him to pick him up.
Jiang Chi suddenly found it hard to breathe, and urgently needed to go out and suck in some smog.
Jiang Chi got up while changing his clothes, speaking in a trance, “Then what… Geng-ge, I have something to do outside, so I won’t send you off…”
Geng Tian was shocked. “You, what are you going to do?”
Jiang Chi put on his windbreaker. His three heavenly spirits and five mortal souls1[三魂五魄, lit. “three hun and five po”. In Daoism, humans have two types of souls in their body. The first type is hun, which is made of yang qi (positive energy) and leaves the body after death, entering the cycle of reincarnation. The other type is po, which is made of yin qi (negative energy) and remains with the body after death.] had still not returned to their original positions, when he subconsciously spoke, “I… I will pick him up.”
“You’re not crazy, are you?!” Geng Tian was dumbfounded, almost angered into having a heart attack, “Film Emperor Ye couldn’t possibly send a text message in the middle of the night for a booty call2[约|炮, lit. “(making) an appointment (with) a cannon”, means meeting up for casual sex. Booty call might not be a precise translation here. One-night stands, friends with benefits, and f*** buddies all fall under this broad category.], and even if he did! He also couldn’t possibly make trouble for himself, while the two of you are still in the cooperation period! Do you understand?”
Jiang Chi became sober in an instant, and hurriedly argued for Ye Lan, “Of course he didn’t mean that! His character…”
“Listen to me first! In private, what kind of character he has, we have no idea.” Geng Tian interrupted Jiang Chi. Out of anger, he paced a few steps, and said, “Shengshi Nianhua is a private club opened by Film Emperor Ye and Yu Xinze. It’s not open to the public at all, and typically only people in their circle go there. Ye Lan is there right now, accompanied by who knows how many people. Even if he needs a ride, why does he need a ride from you?”
“Even thinking with your knees, you should be able to imagine their current situation, right? In the middle of the night, playing until they’re high, what kind of prank are they too scared to pull? And the people in that circle, is there anyone they don’t dare to mess with? If you storm over now, push open the door, maybe a whole room of people will laugh at you crazily while you make a fool of yourself. You want to rush over for this sort of thing, where you’re stepping up purely to let someone play with you? Ouch… you’ve made me so angry that my lungs hurt. I’m doing this for your face, do you understand?!”
Jiang Chi wetted his lips. Of course he understood.
Geng Tian said painfully, “Okay, I know you’re excited because this is the first time he contacted you. You can be excited for a while but leave it at that. Don’t go. And definitely don’t call and ask. It’s already one in the morning. When you see him tomorrow and the matter comes up, just say you fell asleep and didn’t see. That way, no one will be embarrassed. That’s the best solution.”
Jiang Chi was quiet for a while and then said, “What if he was drunk and sent this text to me by mistake?”
Geng Tian laughed drily, “Jiang Chi! Is this your first day in the circle? You’re too naive, right? Today, you just lost a year’s worth of savings for him! Why are you like this? Isn’t it enough? You don’t even want face anymore? Are you waiting for someone to play you for free?”
Jiang Chi didn’t speak, lowering his head to look at his phone and reading that text message several times.
He understood everything Geng Tian said. No matter how much he thought about it, this text was almost definitely a joke.
But what if it wasn’t?
What if he was really drunk?
If Jiang Chi didn’t go, then whose car would he get into?
Jiang Chi remembered Ye Lan said in previous interviews that he loved alcohol, but his alcohol tolerance was low and he easily got drunk. After getting drunk, he couldn’t distinguish between north, south, east and west.
Jiang Chi suddenly thought of Ye Lan’s mesmerizing drunkenness in his old movies, and his heart thumped wildly a few times, suddenly feeling a little anxious.
Jiang Chi calmed himself down, picked up his car keys, and went out amidst the sound of Geng Tian’s furious cursing.
He was gambling that Ye Lan wouldn’t use this kind of joke to play with him.
“Remember to wear a mask! Don’t be photographed, understand!!”
Jiang Chi said, “Don’t worry.”
Even though Jiang Chi had outstanding driving skills, speeding all the way, it was already half past one in the morning when he arrived at Shengshi Nianhua.
The doorman greeted him graciously. Jiang Chi opened the window and waved his hand, indicating that he was only there to pick someone up.
Jiang Chi took a deep breath, picked up his phone, read the text message again, and confirmed once more that it was Ye Lan who sent it to him.
He rolled up the car window, took off his mask, rumpled his hair, and then dialed the number.
“Is it your cell phone?” It was noisy inside the box. Yu Xinze frowned, looked left and right, patting Ye Lan’s shoulder. “Is it your cell phone or not?”
Ye Lan was completely drunk, picking up the call without really looking, “Mmm?”
A lazy breath from the inebriated Ye Lan sounded into Jiang Chi’s ears through his phone speaker. Jiang Chi couldn’t breathe, and his ears instantly turned red.
“Ye Lan-ge3[-ge means “older brother”, an honorific you would use for a senior you respect.], did you4[formal you (您)] text me just now?” Jiang Chi tried his best to keep his voice steady, “I just happened to be playing nearby, so I came over. I’m at the entrance of the club now, you*…”
Ye Lan was stunned for a moment, then he sobered up halfway.
“Scram… scram away.” Ye Lan held the microphone and shook off Yu Xinze’s hand on his shoulder. Seeing that he was still trying to cling to him, he shoved him onto the sofa, standing up and getting out of the box. Dumbfounded, he asked, “You came here? Why…why did this thing happen. Did I text you earlier?”
In the car, the redness on Jiang Chi’s face retreated a little, and he said “um”, then softly spoke, “Twenty minutes ago, you[formal you (您)]… sent me a text message, telling me to come…”
Ye Lan rapidly flipped through his texts, and sure enough… The text message that he wanted to send to his driver, Jin Ming, was sent by mistake to Jiang Chi, who also had a surname starting with J.
Ye Lan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, what kind of thing was this.
“You…” Ye Lan hesitated and said, “Wait a minute, I’m going down right now.”
Ye Lan hung up, thought for a moment, and then returned to the box. He walked over to Yu Xinze and quietly said a few words in his ear.
“Tell him to come up! Isn’t this perfect?” Yu Xinze yelled, “Hurry up, let him come…”
“Shhhh…shut up!” Ye Lan frowned, looked left and right, and said in a low voice, “Let these people hear and there won’t be an end to it. The two of us still have to shoot tomorrow… He doesn’t know any of them, so why should he come up? I didn’t plan it with you, and I’m willing to go down by myself and properly explain it to him. This is also leaving me a way to step down5[“Leaving a step down”, meaning leaving himself a path out, or a way to defuse the situation / save himself from embarrassment.], otherwise isn’t this freaking…6[He doesn’t say the actual swear word here in Chinese, so I translated it like this.] messing with people in the middle of the night?”
Yu Xinze was also a little drunk, and said lazily: “What’s wrong with messing with him… It’s so cold, why should I go down. Can’t you tell him to come up? Let him meet a few more people, he wants to, anyway. When he received the text you sent by mistake, who knows how excited he was? Didn’t he come in a hurry to get close to us?”
“You freaking…” Ye Lan laughed angrily at him, “Okay, afterward, don’t make me help you sign him, you sign if you want.”
Ye Lan left the box as he spoke. Yu Xinze wanted to stop him, but a female star grabbed him.
Ye Lan didn’t delay any more and went downstairs alone. He took his coat from an employee, and just as he walked to the exit, a white car slowly drove over.
Ye Lan exhaled lightly and got into the car.
“Just now…” Jiang Chi didn’t dare to look directly at Ye Lan. While reversing, he handed Ye Lan a cup of milk tea, and said cautiously, “I just bought it on the way, if you7[Jiang Chi uses the formal you (您) the entire time.] have an upset stomach… Of course, if you don’t want to drink it, don’t force yourself, you…”
Jiang Chi was annoyed that he couldn’t speak clearly, and hurriedly ended the topic, “Do as you please.”
Ye Lan was a bit embarrassed at first, but seeing that Jiang Chi was even more cramped up, he stopped thinking so much. He chuckled and took two sips of the milk tea, saying, “Sorry, I was just sending a text to the driver. Your names were next to each other, and I didn’t notice that it was sent to you… It’s the middle of the night and I’ve disturbed your rest.”
Jiang Chi’s heart, which was all the way up at his throat, finally came back down again.
Ye Lan wasn’t playing around with him.
Jiang Chi secretly let out a sigh of relief, and shook his head furiously, “It didn’t disturb me, it didn’t disturb me. I wasn’t sleeping when you texted me. I usually sleep late.”
Ye Lan was at a loss, “Didn’t you just say you were playing around in the area?”
Jiang Chi coughed, and barely managed to explain, “My house is nearby… Where do you* live?”
Ye Lan hesitated and said the name of his neighborhood.
The car drove steadily on the main road. Ye Lan forced himself to stay awake, as he laughed and talked for a while with Jiang Chi. His eyelids were getting heavier and heavier. Jiang Chi saw that Ye Lan was too sleepy. He turned up the heat, and when they were at an intersection, he took out a blanket from the backseat, giving it to Ye Lan. “There’s still about half an hour left before we get to your8[formal you (您)] house. If you feel sleepy, close your eyes for a bit. I’ll wake you up when we get there, um… The blanket is new, it’s very clean.”
Ye Lan took the blanket with a faint citrus fragrance and covered himself with it. He felt more relaxed, but he was not going to really take a nap–forget the fact that he had gotten into someone else’s car while drunk for the first time. If he fell into a dead sleep, he wouldn’t even know where he was being driven to.
Having stayed in this circle for so many years, Ye Lan was used to being cautious and would not let himself make such an oversight.
“It’s fine that I’ve made you work hard and drive me home for free. If I slept on my own, it’s a bit too callous, right?” Ye Lan smiled, rubbing his forehead, and taking the initiative to start up the conversation. “Have you looked at the scenes tomorrow?”
Jiang Chi’s nerves were taut the whole time. When he heard himself being called on like a primary school student, he immediately replied, “I’ve looked at them! I memorized the lines long ago, and I practiced a few times with my assistant. I wrote a few pages of notes summarizing the inner drama, and tomorrow I need to talk to Director Ren about it. I looked at the storyboard many times, and I still remember the positioning. Tomorrow I will definitely…”
“Haha… don’t be nervous.” Ye Lan couldn’t help but laugh. “What’s the matter, little friend9[“Little friend”” is what people call primary school students and young children.]? Have you confused me with Ren Haichuan? Relax, I was just asking casually.”
Jiang Chi realized that he was stupid again, and laughed drily, “I… this is the first time I’m shooting a movie, so I’m always afraid of dragging everyone down. I… I will try my best to act with you.”
Ye Lan narrowed his eyes slightly and said, “You don’t have to be so humble. You have good acting skills. If I have to pick out some flaws, it’s just lack of experience… But everyone is like this at the start. It will get better in the future.”
There was nothing more refreshing than getting the affirmation of a male god10[“Male god” is what people call their favourite male celebrities, usually someone they also admire and respect.]. He blushed a little, and his heart started beating faster.
Ye Lan leaned on the shotgun seat, feeling amused as he saw Jiang Chi’s slightly flushed cheeks. He thought for a bit and said, “Tomorrow…Is it that scene where I forcefully kiss you?”
“Ahem, ahem…” Jiang Chi choked and nodded, “Yes…”
Ye Lan turned his face to the side and laughed, “Don’t worry, I never take advantage of people while filming. Tomorrow, we’ll know Director Ren’s arrangement. It shouldn’t be…”
Jiang Chi looked at Ye Lan nervously, “It shouldn’t be… what?”
Ye Lan thought for a while, and smiled lazily, “It shouldn’t require a tongue kiss, right? But it still depends on what Director Ren decides.”
Jiang Chi held the steering wheel tortuously, and used all his efforts to not drive the car into the green belt.
T/N: Ugh, Yu Xinzhe, this guy is kind of scummy… and he still hasn’t figured out why Ye Lan isn’t willing to get too close to him. First, he gets one of his artists to pour alcohol for Ye Lan like they’re at a hostess club, then he tries to scum up Jiang Chi. Fortunately, Ye Lan isn’t that kind of guy.
- 1[三魂五魄, lit. “three hun and five po”. In Daoism, humans have two types of souls in their body. The first type is hun, which is made of yang qi (positive energy) and leaves the body after death, entering the cycle of reincarnation. The other type is po, which is made of yin qi (negative energy) and remains with the body after death.]
- 2[约|炮, lit. “(making) an appointment (with) a cannon”, means meeting up for casual sex. Booty call might not be a precise translation here. One-night stands, friends with benefits, and f*** buddies all fall under this broad category.]
- 3[-ge means “older brother”, an honorific you would use for a senior you respect.]
- 4[formal you (您)]
- 5[“Leaving a step down”, meaning leaving himself a path out, or a way to defuse the situation / save himself from embarrassment.]
- 6[He doesn’t say the actual swear word here in Chinese, so I translated it like this.]
- 7[Jiang Chi uses the formal you (您) the entire time.]
- 8[formal you (您)]
- 9[“Little friend”” is what people call primary school students and young children.]
- 10[“Male god” is what people call their favourite male celebrities, usually someone they also admire and respect.]