"You're really going?" Mrs. Yan confirmed again.
Yan Qiuchi asked lightly: "Where are we eating?"
Mrs. Yan: "Not sure yet. I'm not sure when he will come back."
Yan Qiuchi pursed his lips. His chiseled chin moved slightly. He raised his head and saw his mother staring at him.
Mrs. Yan immediately retracted her gaze. The corners of her mouth twitching as she tried to hold back her smile. The phone had just connected. Hearing Shen Jintai's voice filled her with a joy that her own two biological sons couldn't give.
After hanging up the phone, she said to Yan Qiuchi: "Make a reservation for tomorrow night. Find a good restaurant that has a good privacy. Xiao Jin is now a big star."
Yan Qiuchi was silent. He put one hand in his trouser pocket and walked outside to make a call.
"Get dinner ready." Mrs. Yan said to the maid with a relaxed tone. She turned her head to look at Yan Qiuchi through the glass window.
—
Seeing that the time was nearing, Shen Jintai asked Xiao Tang: "How many people waiting are there?"
Xiao Tang: "More than 800,000."
Shen Jintai had no concept of what this mean though. His intuition told him: 'A lot of people!'
Li Meilan said: "You didn't promote it in advance. It's already awesome to have so many scheduled viewers. The number of people will soar during the live broadcast."
"Wow!" The makeup artist next to him held his phone and shouted: "Zheng Siqi tagged you on Weibo to help you promote it!" As he said it, he handed the phone over to Shen Jintai to show him.
Zheng Siqi retweeted his Weibo post with the text: [Let's watch it together.]
It took less than half a minute for that post to exceed over thousands of comments and retweets. The two of them are really a popular CP.
After the prince's death was broadcasted last night, Zheng Siqi's Weibo had been completely silent. The whole entire network felt sorry for him. Now his first post since then turned out to be a banner for Shen Jintai. Honestly, Zheng Siqi's Weibo post may be even better than any kind of advertising pushed by the whole network. The number of people queueing for Shen Jintai's live broadcast increased to astounding numbers.
Li Meilan: "Just stay calm. The show was so abusive that the fans are miserable. If you interact with them, they'll treat you as if you're sugar."
"Seriously, many of my friends hope that you two will really get together in real life." The makeup artist said.
"Am I with Zheng Siqi?" Shen Jintai asked mischievously.
"Fans have an empathetic effect when watching dramas, which is normal. They just like to nibble sugar. In their hearts, they know you guys are not truly a couple. After a few years, the popularity of this CP will fade, and it won't affect your relationships." Li Meilan said.
"I really like Zheng Siqi," Shen Jintai said: "He became popular when he debuted, and his own conditions are good. That little guy's future is limitless."
"You are the little guy. He's a few months older than you." Li Meilan chuckled: "It's 8. Are you ready?"
Xiao Tang took a small lamp and put it next to him. He also turned on the light from his phone. The fashion designer came over to help him organize his clothes. The process made Shen Jintai serious.
This was his first live broadcast. It was inevitable to be nervous and uneasy. Just like with filming, when he was ready, he nodded to Li Meilan solemnly.
"Three, two, one, it's live."
The broadcast started. Shen Jintai wore a bright smile on his face as he waved his hand and said: "Good evening. This is Shen Jintai."
[Ahhhhhhh!]
[Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!]
[Ohhhhhh!]
[Ohhhhhhhhhhh!]
[Brother, I love you!!!]
[Son, Mom waited for you!]
The barrage exploded all at once. At first Shen Jintai was nervous but when he saw the situation, he couldn't help but burst out laughing as he looked at all the groundhogs barking. He looked at the screen, still smiling, as he said: "Speak slowly you guys. I can't even see the barrage clearly."
His smile only made the barrage crazier.
Bai Qingquan was lying on the bed, looking at Shen Jintai on the live broadcast.
Did he turn on a filter? He looked like he's nursing*.
*Translation help: (看著奶了很多) not sure what this is referring to.
Shen Jintai didn't style his hair either, simply tying it up. When the filter was turned on, it made him look more gorgeous than usual. The image felt strange yet familiar.
"I always eat a lot," Shen Jintai said as he looked at the camera while eating: "But people who want to lose weight shouldn't think that you can just eat too much and not get fat. That's all a lie. I work a lot, am young, and I have a fast metabolism so I can eat more."
Fuck. Too honest!
"I doubt myself when I see our praises. I'm not ranked in any of the top hot celebrity list. I'm definitely not known for my beauty." Shen Jintai raised his head and ask the staff around him: "Can the filter be turned off?"
The barrage starting flooding with: [Brother, you are the most handsome!]
[No makeup is also beautiful!]
Shen Jintai's with no makeup on was beautiful. He had recently become prettier. After becoming popular, he has become even more appealing. Despite his heavily work schedule, there were no signs of fatigue on his face.
Bai Qingquan look at himself in the mirror. Fortunately, he was also very beautiful.
It didn't take long for the barrage to ask him about the ending between the crown prince and Li Xu.
"Don't ask me too much about the ending. Our drama is filmed while broadcast so I..."
As soon as Shen Jintai was halfway through speaking, Li Meilan made a gesture of covering her mouth. Shen Jintai smiled and said: "Hahaha. My agent won't let me spoil it."
The barrage exploded again when the topic was revolved around the crown prince.
Shen Jintai was telling the truth. The ending of the prince was still in the stage of confidentiality. Judging from the information he has, it was indeed possible the prince may not die, because Zheng Siqi was still part of the crew.
This couldn't be use as definite proof though. There were many characters who have died but appear later as memories. It couldn't be ruled out that Zheng Siqi, as one of the important factors in Li Xu's blackening, would reappear later as dreams or memories.
At the stage they have filmed now, Li Xu had completely blackened to a complete villain. He was vicious and crazy, daring to do anything to climb to the top. This kind of persona was quite bad. The character was highly popular in the beginning. If the screenwriter had compassion for this character, they will help whitewash the role, and the main weapon to do so would be Zhou Ying.
Shen Jintai felt that as soon as Zhou Ying reappear, the audience could forgive all of Li Xu's actions, because their relationship was too heartbreaking, agonizing, and pure.
Thinking about the prince, Bai Qingquan thought of Zheng Siqi. Now that he has a filter for him, he felt that Zheng Siqi looked even more handsome than before when he only considered him as a little fresh meat. He had a more aggressive and masculine flavor now. Liu Hui and his gold master, the bearded guy, loved to flirt with Zheng Siqi on set.
Shen Jintai originally planned to broadcast for only ten minutes. He didn't expect that after chatting for a while, that he became more relaxed. Perhaps it was due to it being across screens. Even as the number of people displayed jumped from 1 million to 5, he didn't have any particularly big feelings. He felt like he was just talking to Xiao Tang and the others.
[I didn't expect Shen Jintai to be able to speak so well. His voice is really nice.]
[Yes. He used to like to pretend to be cool, so he never said much in interviews. Now he has become so talkative. I feel that he is getting better and better. I don't know if it's because of the Li Xu filter.]
[Hahahaha, he also turned on the special effects and was wearing flowers around his head. Truly worthy of Touhua!]
[The flowers are getting more and more delicious. Mom loves you!]
[His hair volume is enviable. So thick and black. I heard that he kept growing out his hair while filming this series and refuses to cut it.]
[What should I do? I really love him more and more. I used to be a determined gold black powder. Mom, save me. I'm going to be the person I despise the most, ah!]
[He looks better in modern clothes than in ancient costumes. After all, he was born as the rich second generation, and he has the aura of a bai fumei. I know this may just be a Li Xu's filter. I don't care, I just love him, ah ah ah!]
[The number of online viewers has exceeded 8 million. So awesome!]
[This was an unplanned live broadcast. If he had notified in advance the number would definitely exceed 10 million. Is this going to break the record?]
[Speaking of breaking records, have you forgotten Bai Qingquan's record-breaking 100 million people?!]
[Bai Qingquan's number is the cumulative number of clicks, not the number of people online. Nevertheless, it's also awesome.]
[The scene of the two top streams competing against each other is about to appear. Come, lets bet. Who will get the number one throne of the top stream this year?!]
[I bet on Bai Qingquan, who has a large base and is a leading actor. The later scenes are bullish, and his top position is unshakable!]
[Although Touhua has been really popular recently, I also bet on Bai Qingquan. Bai Qingquan can't be easily defeated. The 20 million live fans aren't just for show.]
[I am a fan of Touhua's career. I feel that he is particularly ambitious. He has black powder, which is most suitable for the slaughter. So I bet on Touhua. Touhua charge forward! I want to see your bloody winds!]
Shen Jintai's live broadcast reached its peak when it was focused on the prince. Since the episode had just been broadcasted less than a day ago, the heat was still high. This interaction from his live broadcast pushed it on the hot search.
Li Meilan was horrified when she saw hot search. There was too many recently and she was afraid it'll cause disgust among passersby. Fortunately, the world of Weibo was for fans. As long as no big mistakes were made, it will rarely overturn* on Weibo and all the comments would just be considered wailing of the past*.
*Overturned/roll over (翻車了) = buzzword meaning spread through various major social media and become quickly known.
*Clarity: she's saying there's a lot of buzz regarding Shen Jintai on Weibo. Fortunately, if there's no serious scandal/news it'll remain just within Weibo and can be contained. All those Weibo post later can just be attributed to just a bunch of drabble.
"The latest episode of <The East Palace is Coming> has hit a record high again, right?"
"The total number of views had exceeded 10 billion, and the single-day number of is estimated to break 6 today. This is only half of the fucking broadcast."
"The WeChat index is also setting its own record. This drama is really explosive. Everyone in our office is watching it, and everyone in our circle of friends was crying today."
"I don't watch The East Palace, so I have nothing to chat with my classmates about. I came back from the cafeteria at noon yesterday. In the corridor, I heard that several dormitories were broadcasting The East Palace, and even our auntie dorm manager was chasing replays!"
"I thought this show would be popular, but I didn't expect it to be this popular. To paraphrase fans, only The East Palace itself can defeat The East Palace."
"Honestly, there have been too many hot searches for this drama. I thought it was bad. I watched my friends circle brush Jintai Qiongying every day. Only when I watched it, did I realize that it was actually a serious drama. After watching a few episodes, it was really fragrant. I watched the death of the prince at noon yesterday, and I almost cried to death! From then on, I am a Touhua fan!"
"Touhua's live broadcast was today. His Weibo fans have risen by more than two million at once, and he already has over 10 million, right?"
"There are millions of retweets and comments on the latest Weibo post. Even Zheng Siqi had more than 500,000. There are no other words except awesome."
"The two of them have a good CP sense. I really want them to be together!"
"If the two of them can be together, I'll be a fan for the rest of my life!"
Jintai Qiongying CP popularity was out of control. People were talking about it online and offline. Even Mrs. Yan, who had been trying endlessly to set up her own son, sobbed ceaselessly last night after watching the episode. She had become a fan of the CP.
"The young man is so handsome." Mrs. Yan had just finished her meal. She leaned back in her chair while looking at her phone and said: "He's quite fitting for Xiao Jin. Xiao Jin just did a live broadcast. He seemed to be riding the waves of the publicity. I saw a bunch of people begging them to be together."
Yan Qiuchi said: "It's just acting. Those little girls and you takes it so seriously."
"Maybe it will become true because of the drama. The young man looks a bit like you. I feel it's to Xiao Jin's taste." As she said it, Mrs. Yan tilted her head to look Yan Qiuchi's side: "Look. Your eyebrows and chin a bit similar, no?"
Yan Qiuchi took a look. Zhang Siqi was handsome. In terms of good looks, he's comparable to Bai Qingquan. However, he was just a small fledgling that still held a prepubescent aura. Yan Qiuchi felt he didn't have a similar feeling to Zhang Siqi at all.
When Mrs. Yan saw that Yan Qiuchi was silent, she grinned. What she was hinting at tonight was obvious.
Yan Qiuchi turned to look at her: "I know what you are thinking, and it's not what you think." With their messy past, it meant there would be no future between them.
Shen Jintai didn't like him anymore. But the current Shen Jintai was really different from the past Shen Jintai. The Shen Jintai of the past would make him exacerbated and fearful. He couldn't help but think how terrible for whoever would be with such a person in the future.
Looking at Shen Jintai now, he felt the opposite. It would be a great blessing to anyone who could be with him.
Shen Jintai, who he saw last night on set, was still floating in his mind. On a cold night in winter, the lights were filled with night mist. Shen Jintai had walked up to him, face-to-face, as if his figured melted into the light behind him, leaving only a slender quaking shadow. It gradually became clear as the figure came into full view.
This was more exciting than when he saw Shen Jintai with his exposed body in the swimming pool, or the Shen Jintai in the underwear ad.
Combing the three images... he had seen Shen Jintai when he was undressed, almost naked, and when he was clothed, wrapped in a heavy down jacket.
These images felt like bliss.
This feeling he had was like the shadowy figure that was stirring his heart. He had felt the charm of Shen Jintai and became fascinated by it. Love and desire have not yet sprouted, but those feelings have started to move.
The author has something to say:
It's almost time.
Kinky Thoughts: LOL Mama Yan jumped ship. Sorry to break it to her but I already jumped a long time ago, but it's for JinBai.
No more barrage chapters please. Took forever to translate them... but it was worth it for the ending.
Side note: I know y'all are itching for the romance but I'm glad that the author is slowly developing feelings in a realistic manner. Too often have I read danmei where the feelings are rushed or underdeveloped.
Like halfway through reading a series all of a sudden you get a confession out of the left field that would make me just go: 'WTF? WHERE DID THESE FEELINGS COME FROM? There were literally 0 developments and now you love him?'
It shows to me, personally, either that those authors put it in as an afterthought like: 'Oh wait, this is supposed to be a danmei... gotta shoehorn the gay love in now!' or they couldn't write a good plot development to grow their characters in a way that shows a naturally developing romance.