Chapter 35 Brotherhood
At eight o'clock in the morning, An Shigou sprang out of bed to the deadly call of the morning bell, and stumbled into the bathroom with her eyes closed and her steps unsteady.
Normally, if he doesn't have work scheduled in the morning, he would eat lunch right after getting up. But this is Fu Yanle's territory, and Fu Yanle doesn't live alone, so he has to be polite and get up early.
After a series of actions, An Shigou left the room with Fu Yanle's baby cream on.
Just then, the door of a room not far away was opened. An Shigou looked over at the sound and met the eyes of Fu Yanle, who looked utterly dejected. He was immediately startled—
Ugh! What's with that listless, lifeless look on his face?
As Fu Yanle approached, An Shigou's eyes widened in disbelief, widening as if he had never seen anything like it before.
Ouch! My lips are so red and swollen, what happened last night?!
Fu Yanle stopped in front of An Shigou, yawning and saying, "Good morning, haha, good."
An Shi Gou said dryly, "Good morning, oh dear—"
The final note split, creating three arcs in the air.
An Shigou looked at the man who came out of the room with Fu Yanle, and her bright red throat once again shone into the air.
Damn, men!
Fu Yanle and a man walked out of a room? Who is this man?
Oh, it's his brother. Fu Yanle said he wanted to spend the night with his brother, so this man is his brother!
Wait, why does this man look so familiar?
Yu Jingchen walked to Fu Yanle's side, reached out and straightened his head which was pressed against the wall, then extended his hand to An Shigou, "Hello, I am Yu Jingchen."
"Hello, I am An Shigou." An Shigou stretched out his timid little paw and touched Yu Jingchen's fingertips lightly, like a dragonfly skimming the water.
Holy crap! He said, "Why does this man look so familiar?" Yu Jingchen, it's Yu Jingchen! It's that guy surnamed Yu, the new boss of Zongchen Group, that legendary man!
Upon seeing this, Fu Yanle snorted and mocked mercilessly, "Look at you, so cowardly, you've never seen the world before."
"I call this respect!" An Shigou didn't dare look at Yu Jingchen, turning to glare at Fu Yanle, "Why are your lips so red and swollen? Were you bitten? Did you have an allergic reaction? Did you put on any medicine?"
wipe!
Fu Yanle glanced at Yu Jingchen out of the corner of his eye and found that the guy was actually smiling! He gritted his teeth and said, "I was bitten by a dog, I'm allergic to dogs, I didn't apply any medicine, it was a poisonous dog, there's no cure!"
"What an audacious poisonous dog! How dare it bite its owner? It must be caught and given a good lesson!" An Shigou paused, scratched his head, and asked, "But what kind of dog is poisonous?"
Fu Yanle said meaningfully, "There's only one like it in the whole world."
"Oh." An Shigou awkwardly expressed concern, "Then what about your lips? You're not going to be swollen for the rest of your life, are you? Those trolls online will spread rumors that you had lip fillers."
"It's nothing serious," Yu Jingchen said. "Just bite it a few more times, fight poison with poison, and you'll be fine soon."
Fu Yanle: "You're talking nonsense!"
"So that's how it is." An Shigou believed Yu Jingchen's words without a doubt, and patted Fu Yanle on the shoulder. "That's good. Let it bite a few more times. It may hurt, but life is the most precious thing."
Yu Jingchen agreed, “That’s right.”
Seeing Fu Yanle's "unhappy" expression, An Shigou frowned and reprimanded him domineeringly: "Young man, if you're sick, you need to get treatment. Don't take it lightly."
“That’s right,” Yu Jingchen gently advised, “Don’t avoid seeking medical help because you don’t know the problem.”
“Mr. Yu is right.” An Shigou said with a serious expression, “It’s better to have a short pain than a long one. If the toxins accumulate in the body, what if the dog can’t be cured if it’s left untreated for too long?”
Yu Jingchen chimed in, "That makes sense."
Seeing Fu Yanle's expression become increasingly distorted, An Shigou sighed, "Don't be afraid of the pain, be strong, you—"
Fu Yanle focused his energy into his dantian—
"roll!"
An Shigou swiftly rolled away.
Fu Yanle clenched his fist tightly, took a deep breath, and turned to Yu Jingchen with a vicious smile. "Do you really think I'm afraid of you? I'm warning you, if you dare to mess with me again, I'll write a song to curse you, and the song will be called 'The Universe's Number One Dumbass, Yu Jingchen'!"
“I believe it will be a unique song, but,” Yu Jingchen leaned closer and reached out to brush a small tuft of hair from Fu Yanle’s head, “I don’t want to make you angry, even though you’re cute when you’re angry.”
Fu Yanle was furious, "You!"
"Alright, it was my fault, I apologize." Yu Jingchen earnestly reflected on his mistake and made a self-criticism. "I shouldn't have teased you, I'm sorry."
"You!" Fu Yanle choked on his words, unable to swallow them, and his eyes stung from staring so hard.
“I,” Yu Jingchen said with a smile, “I was wrong, please don’t hold it against me, Fu Yanle.”
Fu Yanle suddenly felt a jolt in his heart, as if he had been tickled by a flower. The first second was an itch, followed by a tingling sensation that he couldn't resist throughout his body. He hurriedly turned his eyes around and whispered, "You're making me seem petty, but I'm clearly very generous!"
“I know Yanle is very magnanimous,” Yu Jingchen said. “After all, I kissed you, and you weren’t angry.”
“Exactly, that proves I really am magnanimous.” Fu Yanle touched his mouth, which still seemed to have some lingering feeling. “I won’t hold it against you. If I hadn’t slept so soundly last night and felt so comfortable now, I wouldn’t have been able to win an argument with you.”
"Who wants to argue with you?" Yu Jingchen withdrew his hand. "Alright, let's go down and eat."
At the dining table, An Shigou nervously clutched his small bowl, his eyes darting around the table. Fu Yanle, with his sharp eyes, kicked him without hesitation, "What are you looking at?"
“My eyes are on my face, what’s it to you what I’m looking at?” An Shigou retorted defiantly, but his momentum was much weaker than usual because of Yu Jingchen.
Fu Yanle curled his lip and said, "Stay for lunch, and I'll send you out tonight."
“No, I have an audition this afternoon,” An Shigou said. “It was quite difficult to get this role, so I need to make the most of it this afternoon.”
Fu Yanle exclaimed, "Heh heh! There's a role that even our handsome An can't secure? You're young, but your acting is good, and you have no scandals. You're one of the few actors your age who can rival you, right? Are you planning to switch to the big screen?"
"No, it's a suspense drama. Although it's not a serious drama, the production team is excellent. Do you know about the drama called 'Black and White' from last year?" Seeing Fu Yanle shake his head, An Shigou rolled his eyes. "'Black and White' had no publicity before it aired, but its popularity skyrocketed after it premiered. At the end of last year, it won four awards: Best Director, Best Producer, one Best Actor, and one Best Actress. It can be said to be a dark horse drama that achieved both popularity and critical acclaim. The director of the new drama I'm auditioning for this afternoon is Fang Zhouji, the director of 'Black and White'. By the way, I also ran into Tang Wanbai when I went to audition for the first time. He auditioned for a supporting role."
Tang Wanbai has been a leading man in popular dramas since his debut. Although the reputation of popular dramas cannot compare with that of serious dramas, the supporting roles in serious dramas are not necessarily less valuable than those of leading men in popular dramas. Tang Wanbai's willingness to try out for a supporting role shows that the drama is truly sought after. Conversely, it also shows that although Tang Wanbai has a gentle and innocent temperament, he has considerable ambition and vision in his career.
"Good luck to you both." Fu Yanle poured himself another half cup of soy milk and casually asked, "Are you auditioning for the male lead?"
An Shigou nodded, "I guess so. This drama has two male leads, but it's not a romance. I've read part of the script, and both male leads have very well-developed characters, each with their own strengths. They're enemies, not friends; they're master and apprentice, rivals, and also confidants. In short, the emotional storyline is very compelling, and it's also very difficult to portray. I really want to play this role. I was almost rejected before, but I didn't expect the director to give me another chance. Although I think the chances are slim, I still have to perform well this afternoon so I won't have any regrets."
Fu Yanle was very astute. Upon hearing this, he said, "Your tone is full of resentment. What about not having any regrets? What's wrong? Have you run into trouble?"
"More or less." An Shigou poked open the soup dumpling. "Actually, when I went to audition for the first time, the director was very satisfied with me and even told me that the investors had a more satisfactory candidate. I was able to audition for the second time today because the director helped me get the chance, so I have to perform well and do my best to live up to the director's expectations."
Fu Yanle said, "Aren't you a second-generation star? Someone who could steal your thunder must be quite something, right?"
“I’m a second-generation star, but I’m not signed with a company,” An Shigou said. “Besides, is Huaying Media something to be taken lightly?”
“Huaying Media?” Fu Yanle frowned. “Isn’t Huaying involved in film?”
“It’s just an investment.” Yu Jingchen placed the peeled egg on Fu Yanle’s plate. “Is it ‘Dangerous Situation’? I talked to Chairman Wang about this drama last night, and it is indeed a key project this year.”
Seeing that Fu Yanle was ignoring the eggs, Yu Jingchen tapped the table and said, "Eat the eggs."
“…Oh.” Fu Yanle reluctantly picked up the eggs. “Wang Ruizhe’s entire team is involved in film production. Who is he paving the way for?”
“You wouldn’t believe me even if I told you,” An Shigou said. “Lin Qingtong.”
"What the hell?" Fu Yanle said, "Lin Qingtong is from Huaying?"
According to the script from the previous life, Lin Qingtong didn't seem to be in this drama.
“Of course not. The production company for ‘Perilous Situation’ is Yaoguang. If Wang Ruizhe wanted to bring someone in, he would symbolically communicate with me, but he hasn’t mentioned it yet. It should be his son, Wang Anqi, who did it.” Seeing Fu Yanle’s confused look, Yu Jingchen explained, “Wang Anqi and Yu Muchuan have a good relationship.”
"I get it, it's all about nepotism." Fu Yanle took a sip of soy milk and suddenly remembered that when Yu Jingchen punished Yu Muchuan by making him copy books, wasn't Wang Anqi the one who was implicated? These two dare to cause trouble in front of Yu Jingchen?
“What Wang Anqi said is no longer valid.” Yu Jingchen looked at An Shigou. “This afternoon’s audition will be based on each person’s own ability.”
"Huh?" An Shigou was taken aback for a moment, then quickly realized what was happening and said, "Thank you, President Yu!"
Yu Jingchen glanced at Fu Yanle and said, "Since it's produced by Yaoguang, the focus should naturally be on the effect. Whoever performs well will get the part."
An Shigou also looked at Fu Yanle, pondered for half a minute with difficulty, and finally realized that Fu Yanle must be involved. Yu Jingchen was doing Fu Yanle a favor. He quickly raised his soy milk and said, "Cheers, Le!"
After a difficult journey, Fu Yanle finally finished eating an egg, raised his glass, and exclaimed, "Go for it, Gou!"
The two clinked glasses and each took a big gulp of soy milk.
An Shigou rubbed his hands together. "Do you want to come with me to the audition?"
Fu Yanle said, "I don't act, so why would I go?"
“Didn’t you make a bet with Tang Wanbai last time? You had to treat him to dinner if you lost. There’s a really good hot pot restaurant over there, their crispy pork is absolutely amazing! Tang Wanbai’s here this afternoon, so we can have dinner together.” An Shigou observed Fu Yanle’s expression and, seeing that he was clearly interested, added, “Besides, President Yu just said that this drama is produced by Yaoguang. As the boss’s brother, shouldn’t you go and check it out incognito?”
Although he couldn't figure out what kind of brotherly relationship existed between "Fu Yanle" and "Yu Jingchen".
"This..." Fu Yanle hesitated and moved closer to Yu Jingchen, "Brother Chen?"
Yu Jingchen handed over a tissue and said, "Go if you want to."
Fu Yanle took the tissue and wiped his mouth. "What I mean is, do you want to go eat hot pot with me?"
Yu Jingchen was taken aback, then said, "I have a meeting this afternoon, and I don't know when it will end. Let's call it a day. Next time, I'll treat your friends to dinner, okay?"
"Okay." Fu Yanle put down the tissue. "Remember to eat dinner even when you're in a meeting. Don't let the meeting go on and on. You're so young, yet you're already suffering from all sorts of old man's ailments. Be a healthy man!"
Yu Jingchen couldn't help but pinch Fu Yanle's cheek, "I'll remember that."
Fu Yanle opened her mouth, pretending to bite his hand, "I have a blood feud with every hand that has ever peeled an egg for me!"
An Shigou watched from the side with an innocent look on his face, "Le, President Yu, you two brothers have such a good relationship!"
Author's Note:
Xiao Fu doesn't like to eat eggs.
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