Chapter: 4.6
Due to Zhou Yun Sheng’s excellent state, the ad only took a day to complete filming. Orlando was personally responsible for editing. When he walked out of the studio, his face was very flushed, his eyes in a trance, like he just drank a bottle of strong wine.
“Boss, this is a sample, take a look first. I have a feeling that this perfume will be really popular in C Country, no, in the world. I don’t plan to refilm for the European commercials, I’ll just use this.”
“You can go about your business, I’ll watch it later.” Cao Mo Kun was thumbing through a document, not even lifting his head.
Orlando had originally wanted to appreciate his amazed expression, seeing him look completely indifferent, he had no choice but to leave in disappointment.
After the man left, Cao Mo Kun immediately got up and locked his office door, took off his coat, and loosened his tie. He poured himself a glass of red wine, and inserted the disc into the computer.
A female singer’s ambiguous tune slowly flowed out:
Close your eyes
Have no fear
The monster’s gone
He’s on the run and your mommy’s here
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful
Beautiful boy
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful
Beautiful boy
Before you go to sleep
Say a little prayer
Every day in every way, it’s getting better and better
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful
Beautiful boy
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful
Beautiful boy
…
(John Lennon’s Beautiful Boy. The story mentions a female voice, so a cover’s probably playing)
Cao Mo Kun’s nonchalant expression gradually became more focused and passionate.
When he was in the studio, he was sitting to the side, so his view was limited, but this commercial was taken from an overhead view, the visual effect the switched perspective brought out was shocking.
The young man’s eyes were misty, cheeks flushed red, because he was drunk, his lips were somewhat dry. He frowned in discomfort, then stuck out the tip of his tongue to lick at it, and the dryness turned tender and plump. But this completely couldn’t solve his thirst, so he grabbed a few petals and squeezed, sucking on the bright red flower juice. When he ate his fill, he gave a satisfied sigh, and suddenly spit out a ‘sweet and fragrant’. Then he randomly wiped the flower juice on his fair chest.
He was the most beautiful existence to the eyes, even the colorful petals paled in comparison to his brilliance.
In the series of ‘Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful Boy’, the words brimming with deep love, he slowly closed his eyes, a teardrop hanging on his curled, thick eyelashes, falling asleep, serene.
The screen gradually blurred, glittering golden Gothic font surfaced on the screen – Extravagant, the taste of magic.
The whole commercial didn’t have a single shot related to the perfume, but it could make people smell the aroma of rot, the smell of a flower bloomed to the end of its life, it was a fascinating ad.
Cao Mo Kun had put his glass of wine to the side earlier, staring fixatedly at the screen. 60 seconds was the longest allowed advertising time, but he felt it was too short. In only a blink of an eye, the young boy, full of devilish charm, disappeared.
He hurriedly pressed the replay button, imagining the young man’s small, dark red mouth being sucked by him, imagining the young man’s body being caressed by him, imagining the young man crying for mercy under his body, his eyelashes stained in crystal tears.
Like magic, he outlined scenes of the two’s joyous love in his mind, even without real touch, he unexpectedly reached the ultimate enjoyment of the senses.
Shit! When he returned to reality, he stared at his moist crotch, his face extremely gloomy. He quickly walked into the lounge to take a cold shower, as he draped on his bathrobe, he called Yu MeiLian.
—————-
Zhou Yun Sheng had been waiting for AYA to send money to his account. He had never been a ‘short on money’ type, in this current situation, where he had to calculate which dish balanced cheapness and quantity whenever he ate, he was really at a loss.
He waited for nearly seven or eight days, during this period he had to borrow money from Fang You Ran. If Ji Han Yu gave him one more mocking look, he wouldn’t survive it. He called Yu MeiLian to inquire.
“I don’t know, call Mr. Cao about it.” Yu MeiLian cleanly pushed the matter away.
Zhou Yun Sheng was helpless, he had no choice but to call Cao Mo Kun’s number.
Cao Mo Kun picked up the phone very quickly, there was a ring on this end, then a man’s deep, sexy voice came out on that end, “Baby, have you thought about it?”
Zhou Yun Sheng frowned, getting straight to the point, “My payment, when will I get it?”
“Baby, didn’t you read the contract? The contract stipulates that the payment can only be transferred after the ad airs.”
“Then when is it airing?”
“Currently, the sample is still on trial, but I heard that it violates the standards for broadcasting a bit, so it might get banned.”
“What, do you mean that if it gets banned, I won’t get paid? What kind of unequal clause is that?” Zhou Yun Sheng’s teeth itched in anger. If he’d just played around freely, and hadn’t mixed into the entertainment industry, he wouldn’t be in this situation. If he knew this would happen, he would’ve just sold some small software instead, who cared if he was out-of-character or not.
“This is stipulated in the contract.” Hearing the boy’s suppressing anger breaths, Cao Mo Kun felt his whole body heat up. He pulled at his tie and undid the first two buttons on his jacket, licking his lips and comfortingly saying, “But don’t be anxious baby, we plan to release the commercial in the European and American markets. When it passes the reviews, we’ll pay you.”
“Then how long will it take to release it in the European and U.S markets?” Zhou Yun Sheng patiently questioned. This was, after all, his hard-earned money, how could he just let it go.
“I don’t know yet, wait and see. Baby, your bank account should be almost empty, right? I heard that every day in the school cafeteria, you only eat egg-drop soup and veggies. Baby, you have to take better care of yourself. When you come to uncle, uncle will treat you to a big dinner. After dinner, you can have a pleasantly sweet lollipop.”
The man’s deliberately lowered voice was extremely ambiguous, it made Zhou Yun Sheng’s ear turn red hot.
“Go f#cking eat shit!” He hung up the phone and grinded his itchy teeth.
“What a big temper.” Cao Mo Kun stared at his phone’s screensaver, it was a picture of the misty-eyed drunk teenager, smiling ambitiously.
————————–
When the teenager returned to his seat, his cheeks were flushed deep red, his eyes were bright, and his lips were still faintly pouting in unhappiness, it was very cute. Ji Han Yu couldn’t help but repeatedly glance at him, while fighting the urge to speak to him.
Because of his pretend bankruptcy, the past Lin ChengZe’s attitude towards Ji Han Yu had changed, although he never treated him badly, he had obviously lost interest in him very much. If it was someone else in this body who knew how the plot would unfold, they would certainly try all they could to appease Ji Han Yu, so they could reverse the situation. But Zhou Yun Sheng wasn’t that type of person.
He never liked to win by pandering to others, only focusing on face slapping.
The two returned home with their own concerns filling their hearts, Fang You Ran had already finished dinner. Only God knew how that guy with 4 daily jobs still found time to cook all the meals.
“Eat up while its hot. The dishes are a little scarce today, please put up with it. Wait a few days for my paycheck to come in, I’ll buy a whole chicken and come back to improve our meals.” He smiled as he scoped the two some rice, his strong optimistic attitude endlessly touched Ji Han Yu. He was anxious to tell him that he didn’t need to work anymore, that he could support him.
But his goal of playing with Lin ChengZe had not yet been reached, he had to hold back.
The three people quietly ate their rice, Fang You Ran took out a bankbook from his pocket and handed it over, “Han Yu, this is the money I saved from work, you have to hold it for an emergency. Didn’t you say that someone else could take away the factory if you didn’t quickly invest?”
Ji Han Yu froze for a few seconds before reaching for the bankbook. He looked at the lowly number, an amount he formally wouldn’t glance twice at, his eyes quietly reddening. Someone who would stick with him through thick and thin, stand by him when he was destitute and helpless, that was the type of relationship he always yearned for, and now, he finally got it.
Zhou Yun Sheng glanced at the bankbook, faintly opening, “What use could twenty thousand be? You should take it back.”
Of the two, one did his best to come to his help, and the other watched on with cold eyes, like a bystander. Their diametrically opposed attitudes made Ji Han Yu’s loathing for Lin ChengZe grow deeper, while his love for Fang You Ran intensified. But he wouldn’t display his loathing for Lin ChengZe in front of Fang You Ran, instead he echoed, “Yes You Ran, this little amount wouldn’t be useful. Take it back, I’ll think of another way.”
Fang You Ran firmly refused, the two pushed the bankbook back and forth until Ji Han Yu provocatively caressed his palm, then he compromised, blushing. He immediately lowered his head, not daring to look at his best friend.
Zhou Yun Sheng was still thinking that it wasn’t any of his business, and was about to head back to his room, when he heard Fang You Ran open, stammering, “Little Ze, why don’t you put the house up for mortgage? This could certainly help Han Yu.”
Care to repeat that? Zhou Yun Sheng almost wanted to dig out his own ears. This house was Lin ChengZe’s, Fang You Ran was just his roommate, what qualifications did he have to say these words? Holy Mother of God, every f#cking saint is someone else’s mother!
Fang You Ran couldn’t lift his head under his hostile glare, Ji Han Yu immediately blocked his beloved person from his line of sight, echoing, “Yes ah, Little Ze, you can mortgage the house to the bank to help me get a loan. I’ll pay you back as soon as my factory goes into production.”
He clearly knew that Lin ChengZe would never agree, he insisted just to make things difficult for him. Antagonizing Lin ChengZe had become the source of joy in his life.
“Sorry, this house can’t be mortgaged.” Zhou Yun Sheng looked back and forth between the two people, enunciating each word, “You both should know that this is the only relic my parents left me, so, I will never risk it. If you’re short on money, I will think of a way, so don’t worry anymore. I’m tired, I’m going to sleep.”
He nodded towards the two men, then slammed the door. Ji Han Yu thought his ‘think of a way’ was just a bluff, he gave a mocking smile after he turned his back.
In the final analysis, Lin ChengZe and Ji Han Yu’s dispute was like a dispute between a sugar daddy and their sugar baby. One wanted payment, one wanted sex, every exchange was mutually beneficial. What right did Ji Han Yu have to take revenge against Lin ChengZe? What right did he have to destroy Lin ChengZe’s life?
Since he didn’t have enough sense to stop before going too far, Zhou Yun Sheng would let him profoundly understand what ‘truly selfless love’ looked like, perhaps, at that time, he won’t be able to endure it.
After pondering, his lips curved as he picked up his phone.
“Baby, have you come around?” Cao Mo Kun answered the phone within a second.
“Yes, I’ve come around, you want …”
Before he could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by the man’s deep voice, “Come over baby, let’s talk in person. How could we possibly discuss this kind of thing clearly over the phone?”
“Okay, where do you want to meet?” Zhou Yun Sheng’s tone was decadent, but his expression was a bit wicked, winding and unwinding a lock of hair on his forehead.
“In my private club, I’ll send a driver pick you up.”
“Good.”
Zhou Yun Sheng was about to hang up when the other end made a tough request, “Baby, don’t I get a goodbye kiss?”
Kiss your sister ah! Zhou Yun Sheng’s temples twitched, but he still printed a kiss on the microphone, a man’s muffled, happy laughter sounding in his ear.
When he finally hung up, Zhou Yun Sheng casually picked out a white shirt and crew neck sweater, covered with a down jacket, grabbed his phone and keys, and headed out.
No one was in the living room, Fang You Ran was in his bedroom, and Ji Han Yu had followed him in, only God knew what they were doing inside.
Hmmmmm. So is the ML trying to coerce him by withholding the money?
For the song.. I think this cover suits the scene very well
https://youtu.be/GZlKR4xV0Wg?si=Ur_e66mn9GgQvEvm
White lotuses, I can’t stand these kind of characters! I think there’s another classic white lotus who’s actually the real MC of a popular BL novel, but I won’t name names… *cough* straight authors love to write about the super kind and innocent shou (who basically acts more like a heroine than a real woman) when they don’t take the time to research about more realistic gay relationships. It’s frustrating as a queer person to read about… I’ve also read some gay faq threads on Reddit where gay guys who are fudanshis actually expect gay people IRL to act like 2-D gays *vomits*…smh
Which bl are you talking about??
Hoping MC doesn’t fall in love with ML immediately! I want a chase!! I hate, hate hate gongs who corner their shous! Important things must be said thrice I hate them!!!
If you said it the fourth time, the spell is reversed, I heard.. now you love them.
Ugh, I really don’t like this iteration of the ML 🙁
Ugh. Can’t he just evict them already, so we all won’t need to suffer any further? Also, the current incarnation of ml in this arc is so obnoxtious. I hope mc will smack him to shape.
Thank you for the chapter.