Chapter 17
When Song Ge's call came, Ji Wang was on the treadmill. He panted out a hello and heard Song Ge slyly say, "Yo, what unspeakable things are we doing, Wang-ge?"
Ji Wang knew that this man was morally deficient: "Stop talking nonsense, what's the matter?"
Song Ge said in a low voice, "Wang-ge, take a few breaths, tsk tsk tsk, it sounds so nice, worthy of being an alpha, it's so sexy."
Ji Wang stopped the treadmill and his hand was already on the end call button: "I’m hanging up."
Song Ge hurriedly said, "Don't! I haven't asked you yet, why is Ren Ran at my house?"
Ji Wang took a large sip of water: "He said he was going to sleep at your house last night. I thought you were drunk, so it's better to leave someone to take care of you. Why, what happened?"
When Ren Ran was young, he had a lot of problems, but he was a good person. After he became their brother he attached great importance to friendship1. He had a sharp tongue but a soft heart2.
Song Ge often quarreled with Ren Ran because of his bad temper, while Ji Wang played the role of mediator. No one expected that in the end it was him who cut off contact with Ren Ran.
When Ji Wang asked this, Song Ge hurriedly said no, he was just curious about what happened that year.
Ji Wang remembered that Song Ge was the only one who didn't know that he and Qi Boyan were together. At that time, Song Ge attended university in another place and Ji Wang deliberately concealed it. After they broke up, there was nothing to say.
It wasn’t impossible to say now, but Song Ge’s girlfriend was a fan of Qi Boyan. Ji Wang thought it was better to keep it a secret.
"It's not as serious as you think, it was just a misunderstanding." Ji Wang casually said.
Song Ge had asked Ji Wang about this more than once, as well as Ren Ran. He didn’t know if the two of them had agreed beforehand but neither would say anything. Song Ge was annoyed to death and angrily hung up on Ji Wang. He even sent a WeChat message saying he would ignore Ji Wang for a week.
Ji Wang replied, "I got it, Princess Song."
After teasing Song Ge, Ji Wang casually showered in the gym, then received a call from Hong-jie. She told him that the variety show was about to start shooting and they’d first take a promotional photo.
After hanging up, Hong-jie sent him the address and time over WeChat. She asked him to wait at home tomorrow and Xiao Xu would drive to pick him up.
At two o'clock in the afternoon the next day, Xiao Xu sent Ji Wang to the shooting location. Before that, Ji Wang didn't know who was participating in this variety show. The name of the variety show was "On the Road". Just by looking at the name, he knew that physical work would be unavoidable.
He didn’t know if they would go up to the mountain or down to the sea, but he was sure it wouldn’t be as simple as eating, drinking, and taking a stroll around.
There was no one on the set, only the staff. Other than him, no other guests came.
So far, Ji Wang guessed that he was the one with the lowest status. He was the only one who was idle, everyone else was busy.
After changing clothes, putting on makeup, and curling his hair, he stepped out and Xiao Xu fiercely came at him with his cell phone to take photos. He also turned on the video mode and asked Ji Wang to greet the camera.
Xiao Xu had never done such a thing before. Ji Wang asked, baffled, "What are you filming? Who am I greeting?"
Xiao Xu: "Hong-jie told me to shoot more material to edit and post on Weibo. If you don't post more content, the traffic you just gathered will run away."
Ji Wang understood, but it was the first time he’d done such a thing. He felt more embarrassed than when he had first started acting. He waved his hand to the camera and sat upright, looking serious. He said his name and thanked everyone for their support.
Xiao Xu held the phone and stifled the laugh that wanted to escape: "Ge, relax, smile, make a heart. You are only twenty-six, not thirty-six!"
Ji Wang knew how to make a heart. He’d just finished the pose when the staff called him over to take photos. He didn’t know if it was because he was the only one shooting, but the speed of the filming was quite fast. After shooting, the photographer came over and told him, "You are too easy to photograph, your facial features are really striking, how come I’ve never seen you before?"
Ji Wang didn’t know how to respond to this. Was he supposed to respond that he wasn’t popular3?
At this time, there was a lot of movement at the entrance of the studio. The camera assistant came over to the photographer and said, "Fang Shengyun is here."
The voice was not loud or quiet, just enough for Ji Wang to hear.
The photographer hurried over to say hello, and the politeness of the staff was much stronger than when Ji Wang came.
Ji Wang was used to this kind of treatment. Many people would use a few words to praise his appearance, but this awe would quickly pass. There were too many attractive people in the entertainment industry and popularity was king.
Several people came in with bags of coffee to distribute to the other workers on the site.
Ji Wang only saw a pale man at the door who was quickly enveloped by the staff, and he barely glimpsed the side of his face.
Just like the photo, Fang Shengyun was very good-looking, not tall but slender.
This variety show actually had Fang Shengyun.
At this time, Fang Shengyun’s people had brought coffee over to Ji Wang. Xiao Xu saw that Ji Wang wasn’t moving and quickly took it for him, thanking them repeatedly.
After they left, Xiao Xu took Ji Wang to the dressing room and whispered on the way, “Ge, don’t pay it any attention.”
Xiao Xu added, “If you only look at the face, I think you look better.”
Ji Wang didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Why did he compare himself to Fang Shengyun? Because of Qi Boyan? He no longer had any relationship with Qi Boyan, while Fang Shengyun and Qi Boyan may have one, but it was none of his business anyway.
As for him and Fang Shengyun - he knew Fang Shengyun but Fang Shengyun didn’t know him, this was the difference.
Ji Wang took the coffee from Xiao Xu and took a sip: "The coffee is good. Fang Shengyun is very generous."
Xiao Xu didn’t expect that Ji Wang would not criticize but praise. He didn’t know for a moment whether Ji Wang really didn’t care, or whether he was pretending he didn’t care.
Ultimately it wasn’t good to say too much. In the end this was Ji Wang’s personal business.
If it wasn’t for Qi Boyan being so arrogant, biting his Wang-ge if he wanted to bite, Xiao Xu wouldn’t have known that Ji Wang could be entangled with Qi Boyan.
No matter how popular Qi Boyan was, in Xiao Xu’s eyes, Qi Boyan was a stumbling block on the path to Wang-ge’s career, a military-grade bomb.
After sitting in the dressing room for a while, the makeup artist still wasn’t back. Xiao Xu wanted to go out and look when he noticed the walkway was completely empty. After finally stopping someone, Xiao-Xu said, “Hello, I want to ask where the makeup artist is?”
He only saw the excited and flushed staff member in front of him, “I don’t know, maybe they went to the front.”
Xiao Xu said in a strange tone: "The front?"
Staff: "Because Qi Boyan is here!"
In a working environment where you could often see celebrities, Xiao Xu really didn’t understand how these people were still so excited to chase stars.
Fortunately, after chasing stars, the staff didn’t forget their official duties and said, “You ask Ji-laoshi to wait for a moment. I’ll go and find the makeup artist.”
Xiao Xu thanked him and returned to the dressing room hoping Ji Wang hadn’t heard. He also knew that he was deceiving himself. If Qi Boyan was also a guest star of “On the Road”, Wang-ge would know sooner or later.
So Xiao Xu chose to tell Ji Wang the truth that Qi Boyan had arrived.
He watched Ji Wang’s expression carefully, and the other party wasn’t as surprised as he thought. Then, in the next moment, he saw the coffee cup in Ji Wang’s hand crumple and the hot liquid cover Ji Wang’s hand. The man looked like he didn’t feel a thing.
Xiao Xu cried out in alarm and Ji Wang finally returned to his senses. Looking at his red palm, he nonchalantly threw the coffee cup into the trash, “Don’t worry, I’m fine.”
This time Xiao Xu didn’t believe him at all. After he finally managed to clean up the pool of coffee on the ground, he looked up and didn’t know where his artist had gone.
Xiao Xu hurriedly went out to search and finally found Ji Wang in a corner of the studio shed.
Ji Wang had his hands behind his back as he listened to the staff softly chatting not far away.
As soon as Xiao Xu approached, he heard someone say, “Fang Shengyun and Qi Boyan are really together.”
“Of course, you didn't see the look they gave each other just now. Now they’re in the same dressing room together with the door closed. My god, they must be doing something intimate.”
“Based on my years of experience, Fang Shengyun is definitely pregnant, otherwise how could there be rumors of an engagement?”
“Impossible, Qi Boyan is so popular. How can he get married now?”
“Who knows. If the news comes out, Qi Boyan’s fans are so crazy, they’ll tear Fang Shengyun to shreds.”
At this time, someone refuted them, “Don’t talk nonsense, how can Fang Shengyun be Master Qi’s true love.”
Another person mocked her: "Let's stop talking, this Qi fan is getting anxious."
The girl was restless: "Really, Master Qi said it during an interview. He said that if he has a partner in the future, he will definitely tell us."
The other hissed, “Which star isn’t in a secret relationship these days, there are even hidden marriages. But if Qi Boyan really dares to say, he definitely won’t be able to do it.”
The other people jeered and agreed one after the other.
Xiao Xu stepped forward and patted Ji Wang. Ji Wang seemed like he’d been spooked. When he turned around, his eyes were still a little dazed.
Xiao Xu didn’t know what was going on but he felt a little sad for Ji Wang: “Ge, we're done with work, let’s go.”
Ji Wang lowered his eyes, “Okay, let’s go.”
- Original idiom is “knives piercing both sides”, refers to someone who places great importance on friendship, to the point where they will sacrifice themselves for it ↑
- Original idiom is “a knife mouth and tofu heart” ↑
- The actual word used here is “糊”, which implies that he’s only making a meager living ↑