TL Note: (2/6)
During the two days when the rainstorm halted work and school, Chen Zemian had repeated that sentence countless times in every corner of the house.
Especially the last sentence.
If he hadn’t said so much in that situation, he wouldn’t have suddenly backed out today!
How shameful!
Lu Zhuonian still wanted to defend himself. “Didn’t you say the effect would be better if it was combined with the scene?”
Chen Zemian glanced at the waiters on both sides, then looked at the orchestra of more than a dozen people, and whispered, “I didn’t expect so many people! I’ll tell you again when we get home tonight, okay?”
Lu Zhuonian offered a condition for the exchange. “Three times.”
Chen Zemian bargained. “Two times.”
Lu Zhuonian: “Four times.”
Chen Zemian was shocked. “How can the number go up?!”
Lu Zhuonian replied in a neutral tone, “You can cancel plans at the last minute—why can’t I raise the price?”
Chen Zemian was speechless. He could only lower his voice and mutter, “I’m going out to play tonight. If I come home and do it four times, how am I supposed to sleep?”
“Why wouldn’t you have time?” Lu Zhuonian glanced at him, tone half-complaint, half-factual. “You fell asleep last night.”
Chen Zemian’s pupils shrank instantly. “That’s because I fainted, okay?!”
Lu Zhuonian: “Isn’t that what you asked for?”
Chen Zemian looked around, ensuring no one could hear, then covered his mouth with a napkin and whispered, “I said you could knock me out, and you really did! What if I said you could kill me?!”
Lu Zhuonian replied seriously, “You didn’t say ‘make’ at the time.”
“…”
Chen Zemian nearly self-combusted on the spot. “Anyway, just hear the words, don’t take them seriously! Let’s do it tonight, and I’ll make up for the rest over the weekend, okay?”
Lu Zhuonian nodded slightly, accepting the installment plan.
The topic finally shifted from indoors to outdoors.
“Where do you want to go tonight?” Lu Zhuonian asked.
Chen Zemian replied, “Anywhere is fine.”
Lu Zhuonian thought for a moment. “Let’s go to the racing club. We can invite Kesong and the others. He’s attending a language course and will be leaving for abroad a month earlier than me. He’s leaving in a few days.”
Chen Zemian had no objection, but said, “He’ll definitely ask when he sees you driving a new car. Just don’t tell him I bought it for you.”
Lu Zhuonian’s enthusiasm for racing dropped by 99% instantly. He said unhappily, “Why not?”
Chen Zemian took a sip of non-alcoholic soda. “Do I need to ask? He’ll definitely make a scene if he finds out I bought you a car.”
Lu Zhuonian casually swirled the ice in his cup. “I didn’t even make a scene when you gave him shares in Peaceful Battlefield.”
Chen Zemian responded, exasperated, “What are you competing with him for? He and I are just good buddies.”
Lu Zhuonian looked at him and said, “You and I were good buddies too.”
Chen Zemian was stunned. “No way—are you jealous of Xiao Shao?”
Lu Zhuonian spoke lightly, “I just suddenly realized you don’t seem to want our relationship to be public.”
Chen Zemian answered immediately, “Everyone else is fine, but Xiao Shao… Last time, he thought you slept with me and cried from anger.”
Lu Zhuonian’s expression didn’t change. “Let him cry.”
Chen Zemian said, “But today, I just want to be with you. I don’t have time to comfort him.”
A hint of satisfaction crossed Lu Zhuonian’s face. “You’ll have to tell him eventually. You can’t hide it forever.”
Chen Zemian had his own plan. “It’s not that I won’t tell—just slowly, step by step.”
“Familiar words,” Lu Zhuonian said while cutting his steak. “But things don’t seem to go according to your plans.”
Chen Zemian folded his hands. “Don’t talk about this tonight, please. I just want one quiet evening.”
Lu Zhuonian said, “Okay.”
Chen Zemian suggested, “It’s better if you wait until you’ve gone abroad to tell him. That way, he can’t cause trouble for either of us.”
Lu Zhuonian reminded him, “You saw he didn’t dare cause trouble for me last time, right?”
Chen Zemian thought so too and said, head aching, “Then we’ll talk about it when the time comes.”
In the evening, the two went to the racing club together.
The Koenigsegg One:1 was a luxury vehicle of its class—one of the finest.
The moment it drove onto the racetrack, it attracted everyone’s attention.
The car door slowly lifted, and Lu Zhuonian stepped out in the spotlight.
Everyone gathered around him, voices buzzing. “Mr. Lu got a new car?” “Koenigsegg One:1, that’s incredible!” “Mr. Lu, it’s been a while—what do you want to play today?” “Since everyone’s here, should we do a few laps together?”
As he passed the passenger side, Lu Zhuonian paused.
Chen Zemian, stricken with social anxiety, shook his head wildly and insisted on waiting until Lu Zhuonian and the others left before getting out.
Now he regretted riding with Lu Zhuonian—way too attention-grabbing.
Lu Zhuonian glanced at him, then walked off toward the locker room surrounded by the crowd.
Only then did Chen Zemian stealthily open the car door and slip out, planning to head to the stands from another direction.
Xiao Kesong took a few steps before noticing someone missing. He turned and saw Chen Zemian getting out. “Chen Zemian!”
Everyone turned to look.
Chen Zemian: “…”
Some in the crowd weren’t surprised. Others didn’t know what was going on and looked confused.
Chen Zemian walked over under everyone’s gaze. The others moved on.
Xiao Kesong handed him a Coke. “What did you do wrong? Why do you look so guilty?”
Chen Zemian responded guiltily, “What could I possibly have done?”
Xiao Kesong looked back at the Koenigsegg. “Why’d Zhuonian suddenly decide to switch cars?”
Chen Zemian looked at him innocently. “I don’t know.”
Xiao Kesong took a sip of Coke. “I’m about to go abroad. Buying a car like that just to leave it sitting in a garage—that’s extravagant.”
Chen Zemian: “Hahaha…”
Xiao Kesong sensed something odd and glanced at him a few more times.
Chen Zemian quickly changed the subject. “There are so many people here today. It’s been a while since it’s been this lively.”
“Yeah, Zhuonian wanted a get-together, so everyone who could come showed up,” Xiao Kesong said, motioning with his chin. “Some of them have family in the entertainment business and brought along a group of artists to warm up the place. Zhuonian’s not into that, so I kept them up in the stands.”
In the stands, more than a dozen young men and women stood or sat, chatting, scrolling through their phones, or taking pictures.
Chen Zemian spotted several familiar celebrities—one was the female lead of a trending drama, Cheng Ziyi, the flawless beauty who, in the original plot, falls for Lu Zhuonian but never wins him. He couldn’t help but glance a few more times.
Xiao Kesong threw an arm over his shoulder. “So you like the pure and innocent type—good taste.”
Chen Zemian looked away. “I’ve just been seeing her shows all over my feed lately.”
Xiao Kesong: “Marketing’s strong. She has solid backing. Huanyu Media’s artists are known for professionalism and hard work.”
“Huanyu Media?”
Chen Zemian recalled plot points from the original story and some online gossip. “That company seems kind of messy.”
There was a plotline in the original novel describing the first meeting between Cheng Ziyi and Lu Zhuonian.
It happened about three or five years later. By then, Cheng Ziyi was already a screen queen. But the company forced her to accompany an investor who harassed her when she got drunk. She fled the scene and ran into Lu Zhuonian, who had just finished a business meeting.
Cue the cliché: hero saves beauty.
But now, the male lead was gay. How was this plot going to unfold?
Hopefully, things wouldn’t derail too much.
The joys and sorrows of life are not shared equally.
Chen Zemian worried about the story’s trajectory. Meanwhile, in the locker room, Lu Zhuonian’s good mood was obvious.
He was so pleased that Ye Chen didn’t even want to ask what had made him happy.
It didn’t matter—someone was bound to tell him anyway.
“Chen Zemian and I are together,” Lu Zhuonian announced. “The car was his gift when he confessed.”
Ye Chen: “…”
Lu Zhuonian, now in his racing suit, added casually, “Koenigseggs are hard to book. He’s been planning this for a while.”
Ye Chen looked at him. “What’s your main point?”
Lu Zhuonian walked out with his helmet. “No main point. Just wanted to tell you.”
Ye Chen sighed, still polite. “Congratulations. It’s not easy bending steel bars.”
Lu Zhuonian replied calmly, “Yeah. He said he liked me a long time ago. Just hadn’t realized he was gay.”
Ye Chen said nothing, walking silently. Then he stopped by a monitor and muttered, “He might still not realize it.”
Lu Zhuonian followed his gaze to monitor feed “Stand Southeast 2,” where Chen Zemian sat in the middle of a group of young stars, chatting with Cheng Ziyi.
“That’s Cheng Ziyi,” Ye Chen said. “New jade girl icon. Male netizens’ dream goddess.”
Lu Zhuonian: “…”
Xiao Kesong could’ve explained that it wasn’t Chen Zemian who initiated the chat. A few small stars saw they weren’t leaving and dragged him along.
If he had known about Chen Zemian and Lu Zhuonian’s relationship, he would’ve clarified.
Unfortunately, he didn’t know.
So instead of clearing things up, he fanned the flames. He joked about how Chen Zemian’s charm rivaled celebrity idols—and how he got asked for his WeChat more than once.
“I told them: Do you know who this is? This is Mr. Chen from Whispering Games!”
Xiao Kesong said proudly, “Everyone knows Peaceful Battlefield. They were shocked.”
Lu Zhuonian replied flatly, “So impressive.”
Xiao Kesong beamed. “Of course! Men or women, they all rushed to scan his WeChat. And once they heard Re-conferring the Gods was also his game, they were even more amazed. Someone asked if he had a girlfriend. I said no—and their eyes lit up!”
Maybe that part was exaggerated. But after hearing it, Lu Zhuonian’s eyes did indeed darken.
Ye Chen suppressed a smile and turned to look at Chen Zemian.
Chen Zemian: “…”
Lu Zhuonian smiled faintly. “He really doesn’t have a girlfriend.”
*****
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Author: LazyHermitGal
A Lazy Hermit Gal wondering in the void and falling into the translation abyss.
