The Forty-Fourth Star
After being lectured like this, Zong Ye still steadily maintained eye contact with her. “Sister Yin, could you lower your voice a bit?”
“Are you afraid others will hear?” Li Heyin put on a surprised expression. “It’s truly unbelievable, you actually do know shame.”
“That’s not it,” Zong Ye replied without a hint of embarrassment. “I’m worried you’ll scare my girlfriend.”
Li Heyin’s mouth twitched, emotions flickering in her eyes, on the verge of erupting.
Taking advantage of their conversation, Jiang Chuyi moved her foot away and tugged at Zong Ye. “You get up first.”
Wang Tan leaned on the sofa, still lacking proper posture. “Alright, Sister Yin, don’t bicker with the young ones. Try to understand, at our age, if we don’t go crazy now, we’ll be old.”
“You think you’re quite funny, don’t you, Wang Tan?”
Wang Tan wisely shut up.
Li Heyin clenched her jaw, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled. After a few rounds of this, she pulled up a chair and sat down.
“I, Li Heyin, am truly blessed, with two lovestruck fools under my wing.” She sneered, crossing her arms. “Come on, tell me, when did this all start?”
This woman was known in the industry as a formidable and ruthless businesswoman, with a stern and impartial approach. Even Xin He was intimidated by her aura, weakly replying, “It hasn’t started yet.”
“Hasn’t started?” Fu Cheng pondered. “Don’t you remember what happened a few days ago? Did you lose your memory, or did I?”
Xin He: “…”
Li Heyin ignored these two and turned to Zong Ye. “What about you?”
“Me?” Zong Ye thought for a moment and gave a very sincere answer. “It started when I was thirteen.”
Li Heyin suppressed the urge to curse.
Pressing her temples, she abruptly stood up. “Come on, you follow me out.”
Taking Zong Ye back to the adjacent room, Li Heyin lowered the air conditioner temperature by a few degrees, tossed aside the remote, sat in the swivel chair, and bellowed, “Speak up, are you mute?”
“Say what?” Zong Ye asked.
“Don’t know what to say? Fine, then I’ll ask you.”
“Why did you pause all the brand renewals on your contracts recently?”
“Why did you apply to pay a breach of contract fee to the company last year?”
“Why are you choosing to date at the peak of your career?”
“Why? Huh? Zong Ye.” Li Heyin shook her head, her tone full of bewilderment. “You’re throwing away your entire future, aren’t you? Are you sick?”
“Sister Yin.”
Zong Ye’s expression remained calm.
“When I said I’ve liked her since I was thirteen, I wasn’t joking with you.”
“Maybe it sounds unbelievable to you, but.”
“I entered this industry,” Zong Ye pointed at himself, “for her.”
Li Heyin was so shocked she lost her ability to speak, almost doubting her own ears. She suddenly laughed, “For her? You’re so devoted. Why be an idol? Why don’t you go sit in the matchmaker’s temple and become a love guru?”
As if not hearing the sarcasm in her words, Zong Ye explained: “My original plan indeed wasn’t to be an idol. I had thoughts of becoming an actor, but I debuted halfway, hadn’t studied much, and couldn’t get into her university. I bought a few books to hone my acting skills, but in the end, I found I really didn’t have the talent for acting. Later, a talent scout handed me an IM recruitment ad, and I tried it on a whim. Unexpectedly, I was chosen by you all.”
After a pause, Zong Ye said, “Sister Yin, there are only a few months left. I’m quite grateful for your care these past few years, so I’ll cooperate with the company’s arrangements and complete the upcoming schedule. After next year’s tour is over, when everything is finished, I’ll go public with my relationship.”
Li Heyin was stunned by this long speech, her temples throbbing, a vague sense of unease rising. “Go public with your relationship? You still want to go public? You’re only 25, 26 years old, do you know what it means to go public at this time? Don’t you understand your own fans?”
Zong Ye’s expression remained unchanged: “I know what I want.”
When he saw the fireworks exploding on stage at his ten thousand-person concert, when he walked the red carpet surrounded by flowers, when Zong Ye’s name echoed across various radio stations, when he picked up the microphone and strapped on his guitar, in countless moments of being the center of attention, he still felt utterly empty.
Without any hesitation, Zong Ye smiled and said, “No matter what it means, even if I have to leave the industry for her, so what?”
At this moment, Li Heyin finally realized something was amiss and warned, “Zong Ye, don’t go crazy on me.”
Zong Ye remained silent.
The two faced off in silence.
Li Heyin inexplicably thought back to the summer of 2015, when she first met Zong Ye at the Beijing branch of the company.
At that time, he was brought to her by a talent scout, wearing very old clothes and carrying a bag.
Li Heyin looked him over and asked, “Where are you from?”
The skinny teenager answered, “Shanghai.”
“Did you come all the way to Beijing just for this interview? Does your family know?”
“I didn’t come specially for the interview. I have a classmate studying at university in Beijing, I wanted to come see her.”
“Take off your glasses, let me see.”
The teenager removed his glasses.
Li Heyin felt a spark of interest and spoke directly, “What made you want to enter this industry? Your family’s circumstances don’t seem too good, right?”
She thought he would be like many others before him, saying he wanted to achieve his dreams, or more directly, to make money, to pursue fame and fortune. Who knew this teenager would remain silent for a long time, then give an answer Li Heyin never expected.
“That classmate of mine is a celebrity. I want to enter the industry so I might have a chance to see her more often.”
Li Heyin pressed further: “Which celebrity? What’s her name?”
The teenager never told her the name of this classmate.
Li Heyin had always thought Zong Ye was using this story to make her think he had some connections in the industry, and she had even laughed at his naivety in her heart.
It was only now, when Li Heyin connected it to Jiang Chuyi’s debut time, that she finally understood everything.
She was thoroughly convinced.
Li Heyin shook her head repeatedly and let out a long sigh.
Zong Ye was someone she had personally trained, and Li Heyin knew his personality better than anyone. She had a terrible headache and waved her hand, “Forget it, I can’t control you anymore. You can go.”
Zong Ye softly apologized once more.
As he turned, with his hand on the doorknob, Li Heyin couldn’t help but be moved and called out to stop him, “I’ll have the company talk to the media. Don’t cause any trouble for me for now.”
……
……
Jiang Chuyi hadn’t expected to be kept back by Li Heyin for a private chat.
She didn’t know what Zong Ye had said to her, but this manager’s emotions seemed to have cooled, without the aggression from earlier.
After being looked at for a while, Jiang Chuyi took the initiative to speak: “I want to apologize to you first. I know Zong Ye is someone your company has invested a lot in nurturing. In my current situation, I’m indeed not quite a match for him. Rest assured, regardless of whether we break up in the future or not, once the promotional period for this movie is over and the variety show has finished airing, I absolutely won’t use Zong Ye’s name to create buzz or anything like that.”
“You’ve misunderstood. I didn’t ask to speak with you to lecture you,” Li Heyin didn’t dwell much on this topic. “These past few years, the few of them have been quite easy to manage. I can see that you and Zong Ye aren’t just playing around… Well, I won’t say much more. Just keep an eye on him, to prevent him from going crazy.”
“How about this, let’s add each other on WeChat first. If anything happens with him, remember to notify me immediately.”
“Huh?” Jiang Chuyi was confused. “What could happen to him?”
Li Heyin smiled without humor, her words carrying an unclear meaning: “Hasn’t he made enough earth-shattering, ghost-crying decisions already?”
*
As the premiere ended, crowds of onlookers still surrounded the venue. Meanwhile, the explosive conflict on Weibo had momentarily subsided.
While arguing with toxic fans, a graphic designer in the YiJianZongQing fan club created a battle image, which was changed to the profile picture by the main moderator.
The original image was from BloodxGentle’s Shanghai debut performance. At the end, when the whole venue began singing “When the Stars Tremble” in unison, Zong Ye crouched at the edge of the stage, holding the microphone with one hand, smiling as he gazed at the audience below.
Sharp-eyed fans, following his line of sight, unsurprisingly found that blue figure hidden in the audience.
This long-shot image had two lines of watermark in the bottom right corner:
He was born to be the center of attention.
Yet his gaze is fixed only on you.
— <<This Is What You Came For>>
……
……
In a car arranged by the organizers, Jiang Chuyi and Zong Ye sat in the last row.
After being mentally tense all evening, they were inevitably feeling some fatigue now. She looked out the window and, through the reflective glass, and saw Zong Ye squint his eyes as if about to rub them.
Jiang Chuyi immediately turned and stopped his action, “Don’t rub.”
Zong Ye paused, letting her hold his hand, finally meeting her eyes. He asked, “What did Sister Yin say to you just now?”
“Do you want to know?”
“I’m a bit curious.”
Sensing his nervous emotions, Jiang Chuyi unusually felt like teasing him a bit, “Your manager asked me to name a price, saying if 5 million would be enough for me to leave you.”
“Then what did you say?”
Jiang Chuyi thought she had fooled him and said seriously, “I said I need to think about it.”
Zong Ye smiled easily, “Is that so? Then what do you need to consider?”
“Considering whether to choose money or you.”
Zong Ye looked at her earnestly, “Am I worth that much money in your heart?”
Jiang Chuyi: “…”
She admitted defeat and stopped teasing him, “I was just joking with you. Even if they gave me 10 million, I wouldn’t break up with you.”
Jiang Chuyi lowered her head and said in a very soft voice, “After all, money is just external. You’re much more precious.”
She spoke naturally, but Zong Ye was truly stunned.
Jiang Chuyi lowered her gaze, looking at the hands she was holding. There was a delicate thin chain as a decorative item on his wrist, and the arc of the knuckles on the back of his hand was beautiful. His index finger was slightly curved, wearing a ring.
A very beautiful pair of hands, capable of playing music that moves many hearts.
Jiang Chuyi stared absent-mindedly for a while, suddenly feeling a bit of joy and worry in her heart. She knew that besides herself, many people loved these hands, loved Zong Ye…
Beside her ear, Zong Ye hadn’t responded for a long time. Jiang Chuyi turned her head, “What are you daydreaming about?”
“Thinking about what you said.”
“What did I say?”
“You said I’m… precious?” He confirmed carefully.
Ji Kai, sitting in the front row, glanced back at them. Seeing Zong Ye’s worthless expression, he immediately turned away, unable to bear it.
Jiang Chuyi: “Yes.”
“Next time you say something like this to me, remember to give me a heads up.”
“What’s wrong with what I said?” She didn’t understand.
“It’s a bit beyond what my heart can handle.”
Jiang Chuyi laughed, “You’ve heard so many compliments, how is this anything special?”
Seeing her laugh, Zong Ye’s lips slowly curved into a smile, “You’re my idol, it’s different from others.”
Jiang Chuyi’s heart skipped a beat, her thoughts drifting.
She really felt that Zong Ye was a very contradictory person.
Sometimes incredibly straightforward and sensual, sometimes so pure it was unbearable…
“Then I have something else to say, you’d better prepare yourself mentally.”
“What is it?”
Jiang Chuyi put away her smile and said very solemnly: “Zong Ye, I think you’re a very impressive person.”
“Although we’re in different fields, our professions are similar. You’ve managed to stand so high in just a few years. You say you see me as an idol, which makes me feel somewhat undeserving.”
She said frankly: “Objectively speaking, our conditions are actually no longer a match now.”
She was shy, especially with him staring at her intently, making Jiang Chuyi somewhat embarrassed, “Although I know that no matter what, after we go public, most of your fans still won’t accept me, but at least, since you’ve come this far for me, I also need to work harder, stand higher, and try not to hold you back.”
It took Zong Ye a long time to understand what she meant.
…He was defeated.
In the dark, unnoticed corner, Zong Ye sighed and leaned forward, placing a very light kiss on her fingertip.
“Chuyi, you’ve always been in a very high place.”
She had always been in a very high place.
A place he had never been able to reach.
Even though times had changed, even though he had undergone earth-shattering changes, Jiang Chuyi remained unchanged in his heart.
— She was forever radiant.
*
Since Zong Ye had admitted their relationship in front of his manager, Jiang Chuyi went home and thought carefully. During a break from shooting a commercial, she went to Kaijun’s company to have a heart-to-heart talk with Gao Ning.
As they chatted, Gao Ning was still distracted replying to work messages and checking schedules.
It wasn’t until Jiang Chuyi said she didn’t plan to take on any more variety shows or TV dramas that Gao Ning was stunned, “Your popularity has just started to rise a bit, what nonsense are you talking about!”
“Don’t be hasty.” Jiang Chuyi handed her the printed plan. “Brother Jin told me a few days ago that one of the teacher’s students wants to shoot a niche-themed movie recently. The script is quite good, and I’m very interested and want to give it a try.”
“My goodness.” Gao Ning lamented, “You filming this kind of movie will take half a year of effort, and you won’t earn as much as doing two variety shows. It’s so easy to make quick money now, why are you set on filming movies again?”
“I’m not being unreasonable.” Jiang Chuyi calmed down. “I want to aim for an award in the next few years.”
Gao Ning: “…”
“Look, can you tell me what happened that made you make this decision?”
“Because I’m dating Zong Ye.”
These words were like an atomic bomb, precisely hitting Kaijun’s conference room, leaving it in dead silence. Gao Ning was stunned speechless for a long time.
After a long while, she slowly straightened up and finally found her voice, “You, are, dating, who?”
“Zong Ye.” Jiang Chuyi calmly repeated, “His manager told me he plans to go public in the future.”
Gao Ning: “…”
“Gao Ning, I trust you, that’s why I’m telling you this, but please don’t use this for publicity. I don’t want to exploit any more heat from Zong Ye. Actually, even without Zong Ye, I had thoughts of continuing to make movies. In recent years, the money I earned from TV dramas has paid off most of my mortgage, and daily expenses are basically covered. You’ve also gradually gotten on track at Kaijun, and after dating Zong Ye, I’ve thought carefully about my career plans again. I want to continue focusing on making movies.”
Gao Ning was choked for a long time, mumbling, “I really… you really…”
Having said what she needed to say, Jiang Chuyi stood up, “Take a good look at my plan later, if you have any questions, ask me on WeChat. I need to go to the airport soon, so I’ll leave first.”
……
……
As the strongest company in the entertainment industry currently, IM had solid PR tactics. They subsequently arranged several promotional activities for “Catching a Star,” minimizing the negative impact from the premiere.
The second event was in Wuhan. As soon as Xin He and Jiang Chuyi got off the plane, they got into IM’s company car.
Li Heyin had given advance notice, and the driver didn’t take them back to their hotel, but instead brought them to BloodxGentle’s advertisement shooting location.
Early autumn welcomed the first heavy rain, and perhaps it was good luck, but the rain stopped just as the car arrived at the location.
Jiang Chuyi and Xin He were led to the edge of the site by staff members.
On the red runway, there were four heavy motorcycles racing. The thunderous roar brought up smoke from the exhaust pipes. Each of them wore black helmets and very slick riding suits.
“So cool,” Xin He exclaimed.
Jiang Chuyi watched with her heart pounding.
The director called cut.
Jiang Chuyi blended into the crowd, her eyes fixed on the blue-tailed motorcycle. Zong Ye swung his long legs off the bike, removed his helmet, and shook out his black hair.
Not knowing the specific content of the shoot, a girl quickly approached him and placed a hand on Zong Ye’s body.
He smiled and casually tossed the helmet to someone else.
A few people nearby were whispering. Xin He observed Jiang Chuyi’s reaction and teased, “Feeling jealous?”
Jiang Chuyi shook her head, “Not at all. I just think Zong Ye looks quite handsome now.”
“Right?” Xin He found it strange, “You say Zong Ye is so innocent, then how can he have this kind of aura?”
Innocent…
A few images flashed through Jiang Chuyi’s mind, and she didn’t quite agree with Xin He’s assessment.
She asked, “What kind of aura?”
“Playboy aura,” Xin He withdrew her gaze. “Look, right now, it doesn’t feel like he’s in an ad at all. He seems naturally flirtatious, just short of having ‘I’ve got lots of girls’ written on his face.”
Jiang Chuyi actually agreed with this.
Back when she wasn’t familiar with Zong Ye, she suspected he had thirty girlfriends in private. At least, he seemed definitely promiscuous.
Jiang Chuyi smiled, “He is indeed very popular with girls.”
The two watched for a while, and Zong Ye and Wang Tan’s shoot was almost over.
Sitting on a resting chair and taking a sip of water, Zong Ye said goodbye to the director and walked towards them as if no one else was around. “What are you talking about?”
Xin He said irritably, “Saying how handsome you are. Satisfied?”
Zong Ye smiled and said to Jiang Chuyi, “Want me to take you somewhere?”
“Where?”
……
……
Jiang Chuyi followed him behind the shooting location. They climbed up a staircase and passed through a small open terrace.
Zong Ye suddenly covered her eyes, “I’ll guide you for a few steps. We’ll be there soon.”
Jiang Chuyi obediently held onto his clothes, following step by step.
Zong Ye occasionally reminded her to lift her foot.
Zong Ye: “Chuyi, can you keep your eyes closed for a moment?”
Not knowing what trick he was up to, Jiang Chuyi still went along with it and obediently closed her eyes.
She waited for a while, and suddenly someone picked her up horizontally.
Before Jiang Chuyi could cry out, she abruptly opened her eyes and was placed by Zong Ye on a table against the wall.
She stared blankly, curiously examining the place. It looked like an abandoned classroom, dyed golden by the sunlight after the sudden rain. There were books and draft papers on the ground, and the blackboard had BloodXGentle’s group logo drawn in chalk.
Jiang Chuyi looked around, “Where is this?”
“One of the shooting locations just now.”
“Why did we come here?”
Zong Ye: “Look down.”
Jiang Chuyi lowered her head and found herself sitting in a rainbow refracted by glass.
She felt a bit moved and also wanted to laugh.
“Do you know what this is?” Zong Ye asked.
“A rainbow?”
“This is you.”
Jiang Chuyi was confused: “Why?”
Zong Ye slightly arched his back, placing his hands on either side of her, “Because Chuyi came from the sky.”
Jiang Chuyi’s ears instantly turned red from the flirtation. She quickly glanced at him and stammered, “You, just, brought me, to see a rainbow?”
“No, just an excuse,” Zong Ye observed her expression. “I wanted to be alone with you for a while.”
He was still wearing the motorcycle suit from the shoot, his black hair slightly damp, those upturned eyes seeming to smile yet not smile, truly looking like the heart-stealing playboy Xin He had described…
Jiang Chuyi’s back pressed against the wall as she swallowed, “So what are we going to do now…”
“What can I do?” Zong Ye’s gaze lingered on her face.
Her heart tightened, “How would I know what you want to do…”
Zong Ye pondered for a moment, “If I want to kiss you, would you mind?”
Jiang Chuyi: “…”
Her nails dug into her palm as she thought somewhat desperately, why does Zong Ye have to ask for her opinion even for this…
A shadow fell before her, and Jiang Chuyi said softly, “If you want to kiss, then kiss. We’re already dating anyway…”
Zong Ye still didn’t move, his breath hot, “Chuyi, if I do some things, you might not be able to casually call a stop.”
“Like what?”
“Like this.” Zong Ye propped one hand on the wall behind her, while the other slowly caressed her slender neck, passing over her pulsing artery. “This.”
Jiang Chuyi’s body went weak, but she resisted moving.
As if knowing how bewitching his low voice was, Zong Ye repeatedly confirmed in her ear, “Is this okay?”
Jiang Chuyi made a sound of assent.
In the next instant, Zong Ye’s palm covered her mouth, preventing Jiang Chuyi from making any more sounds. He tilted his head and bit her earlobe.
