Chapter Ninety-two

  He suddenly sprang up from the stool, then plopped back down with a thud, turned his head and looked at Jiang Chuan with a twitching lip, as if he wanted to say something but stopped himself. The latter stared at his face for a while, which was almost completely happy, before finally cracking a three-second smile on his own paralyzed face. The man reached out and patted the young black-haired man's head: "Got it."

  He slowly raised his hand to cover his face, his mind buzzing from the moment he signed his name with flair on the film contract offer from the top executives of IM Company, to being recognized by elementary school students on the street as "Hey, isn't that the young military commander?", to buying vegetables at the market and having the vendor insistently add an extra scallion, to standing on the highest award stage in the film industry holding a small golden statue, thanking his mom, his grandma, IM Company, his agent, and everyone's grandfather...

  From then on, Yuan Jinyan was about to reach the pinnacle of his life.

  He carefully took out his phone and posted on his Weibo with a flourish.

  It's probably the smell of his narcissism that can perfectly reach the noses of fans even through the screen, and the fans who have been waiting for him to show off on Weibo are now hearing about the ratings breaking three and feeling a sense of pride and participation. Everyone is very happy, and at this moment, the comments section under his Weibo post has become a chaotic dance party.

  Ranran: Yuan Yingjun, my mom just asked me who the Japanese actor playing Xiao Guizi was and said he acted really well. One look at him and you can tell he's not a good person hahahahahahaha!

  "R: Saito doesn't seem like a simple cannon fodder, looks like the screenwriter finally gave the little devil role some heart... By the way, advertising, factory direct ultra A-grade replica luxury brand handbags exclusive consultation WeChat r007."

  Ada: Handsome, your Japanese is quite good! I listened carefully and surprisingly it's really your voice, not a dubbed one.

  Grant me a small skirt: upstairs you don't know how to destroy, handsome Japanese teacher Jiang Chuan teaches.

  Hehehe...: ……ls……The world is actually so chaotic! Suddenly, the official sugar has expired, I need to calm down!

  Finally, on the day of the premiere of "Star Fire", the ratings reached a peak of 3.25% and an average rating of 2.75%, steadily ranking first in the national ratings chart for that evening - it's worth noting that after being away from the screen for so long since "Blood-Soaked Battlefield", Chuan Na had not produced any works with explosive ratings like those youth idol dramas adapted from games or martial arts novels, which have a large number of original fans. So on that evening, after "Star Fire" finished airing at 10:30, the producer directly took a group of people to rush to a nearby seafood restaurant and had a big feast, everyone was very happy, and every face could see a blooming flower.

  Jiang Chuan's face is unexpectedly thin in this regard. Originally, he didn't want to follow them to freeload food and drink, but later Li Rui and Bai Yan Ge personally came out to invite him together. From the way they spoke, it seems that recently on the set of "Qing Shi Hong Yan", they also saw his acting skills and thought he was a talent worth cultivating. Next, Chuan Na has other TV drama plans, maybe they want Jiang Chuan to make a guest appearance too.

  "Look, our Sichuan Opera can't just stick to the old ways and not innovate. Introducing some popular idol stars of today is also very effective - you see this time, I was just looking online, many young people are coming to watch because of Xiao Ran." Li Rui held a glass of wine, at this point he had already drunk a bit too much, compared to his usual serious demeanor, he was talking more than usual. "After all, our Sichuan Opera is still filming main melody TV dramas, such positive energy not only needs to be passed on to our generation to recall the past and cherish the memory, but also needs to be conveyed to young people of today, so they can understand history, get close to history, which is a good deed."

  He smiled and nodded in agreement, but actually he didn't have much confidence in himself. The ratings exploded tonight, but did it have anything to do with him? After all, Li Rui and Bai Yan Ge had positioned him as a new actor who would shine under the guidance of Master Bai Wen Qi, waiting to take over as the next generation's anti-war drama successor... In short, they didn't seem to have high expectations for his appeal.

  Now he generously attributed the credit to him, feeling extremely embarrassed, and then gladly accepted this statement.

  In the harmonious atmosphere of the wine party, Li Rui mentioned again the patriotic theme movie that needs to be prepared after National Day. This time when he brought it up, his tone was indeed much more straightforward than before. Li Rui confirmed with Jian Ran twice whether she had a schedule after National Day, and after Jian Ran guaranteed that she did, he showed a very satisfied expression, then said meaningfully that he would go to IM company again in a few days - Jian Ran suddenly felt like a young lady who was about to be forced into marriage by a wealthy family, and nodded her head with an honest "I'm waiting for you".

  ……

  After having a late-night snack, they each went home. Jin Yan had inevitably drunk some wine and was driven back by Jiang Chuan. He sat in the passenger seat with his face against the window, blowing air to sober up. A pair of blurry black pupils gazed at the neon lights along the street. As they left the bustling downtown area and headed towards Jin Yan's single apartment complex, the surroundings gradually quieted down. Jin Yan lifted his head to look at the sky, which was as dark as ink, like God had kicked over a plate filled with star sand. The stars twinkled in his eyes, making his black pupils shine exceptionally bright. By his ears was the sound of the wind whizzing by.

  He moved slightly, feeling extremely calm at this moment, but his chest was filled with inexplicable emotions. He took a deep breath: "Jiang Chuan, thank you, tonight."

  The man driving heard the person in the passenger seat speak with a tone of emotion and disordered words, so he knew that he had drunk too much. He didn't react to his thanks, but instead stared straight ahead, one hand gripping the steering wheel and the other holding the back of his neck: "Please do not put your head or hands out of the window."

  He was dragged back, seemingly without any strength, and then he didn't know whether he was really drunk or just pretending to be. The next second, he directly fell onto the man sitting in the driver's seat under the force of the pull. Something cold suddenly pressed against Jiang Chuan's body. He raised an eyebrow and turned his head to look, only to find that the young black-haired man still had his seatbelt on - at this time, the latter's hands were already wrapped around his waist. Jiang Chuan couldn't help but wonder if it wasn't for the seatbelt, this guy would probably be able to climb all the way up onto his head.

  "Yuan Jinyan, I'm driving," the man's low voice warned, "sit tight."

  "Drive slowly and you won't crash."

  "You get off me first, then you can drive as fast as you want without hitting anything."

  "Not going down," with his chin on the man's shoulder, the young black-haired man didn't mind the seatbelt tightening around his waist, hugging Jiang Chuan's waist and refusing to let go. With a playful smile, he blew air onto Jiang Chuan's cheek, "Today I'm in a good mood, let's talk about something dangerous."

  Jiang Chuan didn't say a word, turned his head and looked at him with an idiot-like gaze, which roughly meant "if you say one more word, you're dead". However, the latter seemed to be unaffected by this glare, but instead slightly restrained his smile, put his hand on Jiang Chuan's waist and rubbed it gently. Feeling the man's body stiffen slightly, he then asked with a serious face: "I just want to ask what you meant by what you said on the phone that day."

  "What? Which sentence?" Jiang Chuan asked.

  "It was that day when I just got home, you called me and hung up before finishing the conversation." Jian Yan asked, "What do you mean?"

  Jiang Chuan heard this and slowed down the car slightly, then replied without hesitation: "You should ask yourself that, what do you think our relationship is now?"

  "I'm after you." He said with a slight curve of his lips.

  "You're pursuing people like this? I'll take three steps back, and it's clear that in the future there will be someone to accompany you out of the closet, but that person is definitely not me. From start to finish, I think I've been more sincere than you...” Jiang Chuan turned his head to look at him, then lazily said, "You've always pursued people like this, no wonder you're still single."

  He looked stunned for a moment, then muttered in a low voice as if to himself: "Don't you understand why I'm like this?"

  "You can't have both wings and bear paws, if you tie up your hands and feet, aren't you afraid of chickens flying and eggs smashing?"

  "Besides, I've never pursued anyone before, so how would I know the correct way to open up?"

  "So you're using me as a testing ground? And then later go pursue that 'definitely can come out of the closet with you' person in the correct way?"

  "...your Chinese is at level 8, I have nothing to say back to you."

  Although he said so with his mouth, in fact, his arms were slightly uneasy and tightly wrapped around the man's waist. Until he felt that his hand bones and the other person's rib bones were tightly attached to each other, making him feel a little sore, only then did he not continue to increase his strength - He guessed that at this moment, Jiang Chuan probably also felt a bit of pain, but the latter didn't make a sound for him to let go, nor did he push him away. Instead, he just asked lightly: "Yuan Jinran, what do you like about me?"

  “……”

  This is a good question.

  Actually, there can be many different styles of answers.

  For example——

  I like your handsome appearance, I like your eight-pack abs, I like the way you look when you're acting seriously, I like how you have a strong attraction to female co-stars without realizing it, I like how gentle and kind you are with small animals, I like the courage you showed at the press conference that day when you announced as a newcomer that you were pursuing a same-sex celebrity, I like the domineering aura you had tonight before the premiere of "Star Fire" when you pressed my head against your chest, I like the subtle tone in your voice when you asked me if I didn't need to come out anymore when you saw me taking photos with other actresses.

  I like every punctuation mark you use when sending text messages. When I'm bored, I can't help but flip through them again and again, remembering the long sentences you said and roughly where they are in our chat records. Flipping through them again and again, even if I can recite that sentence backwards, I still can't help but curl up the corners of my mouth like an idiot.

  I like the way you talk.

  I like the way you walk.

  I like the way you breathe.

  ...and so on and so forth, there are many, many reasons why I like it very much.

  But when the words reached his lips, Jian Ran suddenly found himself unable to say anything. He pursed his lips, and in the dim light of the car, those black pupils seemed exceptionally bright. Just as Jiang Chuan was about to turn away, annoyed by the prolonged silence, he unexpectedly met that pair of eyes head-on.

  Jiang Chuan was taken aback for a moment.

  He seemed to see a thousand thoughts in those eyes, and he felt like he understood something, yet didn't understand anything at all... The two locked gazes for a moment, then the person on top of him suddenly buried their head in his sturdy shoulder, saying in a defeated tone: "I don't know how to say it, why can liking something be ranked one, two, three... Liking is just liking, when you think someone looks good, even a single strand of their hair shines with a holy light..."

  "When you don't like it, then nothing is anything?"

  "Can't you just stop being so arrogant? Even without his halo, God is still God!" Jian Ran said somewhat violently.

  Jiang Chuan smiled lightly, but it was hard to tell what he was really feeling. Jin Yan felt a bit uncertain and didn't know if his answer had satisfied Jiang Chuan or not. Actually, what Jiang Chuan said wasn't unreasonable, and Jin Yan knew that Jiang Chuan didn't dislike him. If he could be a bit braver, it might just work out... but the problem was...

  He thinks too much.

  And he also clearly knew that there was no way out behind him.

  So in any case, without being 100% sure, he didn't dare to act rashly - on the contrary, it's like now, being able to be with two people for a while, he was already very satisfied. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but reveal a subtle expression and slowly said: "Sorry, Jiang Chuan, I know this is also very irresponsible and unfair to you, after all, it's still my one-sided love -"

  "You always hold onto the neck of your unrequited love's family member and say that you're in a one-sided love?"

  “……”

  "You're waving the flag of 'unrequited love' while being a rascal."

  He pursed his lips tightly, and finally seemed to have given up struggling. He let out a long sigh, "Now that I'm so close to you, can't you feel my emotions even a little bit?"

  Yes.

  "Huh?"

  "Some."

  Jin Yan stared at Jiang Chuan in a daze, the latter sighed and pulled over to the side of the road. He then reached down and touched Jin Yan's hand that was hooked around his waist, feeling it slide down - Jin Yan was caught off guard by the "God" he had secretly admired, who was now being a rascal. The weather was hot and they were both wearing little, so when Jin Yan felt the hardness and heat of Jiang Chuan through the thin fabric, he quickly pulled his hand back as if it had been scalded. He jerked backward until he went from "hanging on Jiang Chuan" to "sticking tightly to the door, trying to get as far away from Jiang Chuan as possible". His face was shocked and frightened as he asked: "What moving words did I say just now that made you react like this?"

  Jiang Chuan wouldn't tell the curious baby in front of him that his reaction was probably due to the puppy's watery eyes looking at him with a desire to speak but hesitating, after all, he now had a shocked expression that was very punchable. So the man thought for a moment and replied in an unembarrassed tone: "Probably because of your ardent love."

  "...don't say such things with a straight face, it sounds creepy."

  “……”

  "Jiang Chuan," he adjusted his sitting posture slightly, "then why don't you try getting to know me a bit?"

  "Alright," the man curled up his lips, "reminding this little student that in the world of adults, besides eating, watching movies, shopping and kissing, there's another daily activity called going to bed."

  "We broke up."

  “……”

  ……

  With a successful debut on the first night, "Star Fire" quickly became popular after its premiere. Every evening at eight o'clock, no matter where you went - even if it was just to buy a pack of cigarettes from a small shop, you could hear the TV behind the cashier counter playing the show with Japanese dialogue. Not only that, but this drama also sparked endless discussions online. It's the first time I've seen an anti-war drama have fanfiction and fan art. Of course, in the end, due to differences in stance, Saito always met a tragic ending - it seems that young people on the internet still have normal values.

  When the TV series was broadcast halfway, the highest ratings had reached 4.5%, and Jian Ran was shocked when he saw this data - he never thought that the highest ratings record in his acting career so far was actually set by a main melody anti-war drama...

  Go to the supermarket to buy some things, those aunts who don't know him well on weekdays will also look at him with a shocked face: "Oh my god, you're not that...you're not Japanese!"

  The unprecedented heat of "Star Fire" made Jian Ran feel a sense of nostalgia for the era when "My Fair Princess" first aired and people were crazy about it. However, his agent, Mr. Fang Yu, poured cold water on this illusion: "You're only at 4.5% and you're already comparing yourself to 'My Fair Princess'? Do you know that even on its lowest-rated day during its premiere, the show still had a rating of 45%? That's ten times yours! You're just a small fry, your face hasn't even been printed on a washbasin, and you dare mention 'My Fair Princess'?"

  He smiled with a hint of embarrassment, and recently he had been smiling a lot, looking so beautiful that it was as if bubbles were bursting from his nose. Every morning, he would wake up to his own beauty - to the point where Fang Yu said something to him, but he just didn't care, responding with a smile: "I believe my face will soon be printed on the washbasin."

  "No one wants to print a little devil's face on a washbasin," said the agent with disdain, "but a foot basin might be possible."

  Even if Mr. Economist says so, Jian Ran still doesn't get angry.

  As the weather gradually cools down, autumn arrives again this year.

  This is destined to be a fruitful golden autumn. Before the Mid-Autumn Festival, he successfully passed the audition and defeated Chen Kai, an actor of the same age who was born in Sichuan Opera, to win the male lead role in the Sichuan-produced film "Memories of Beijing". The film, originally scheduled to start shooting at the end of National Day, had its opening date postponed to January next year due to the need for further refinement of the script details.

  Since he has secured this role, Jian Ran is no longer anxious and quietly waits for the start of "Memory of Beijing" while also receiving a lot of good news about his career.

  Living up to expectations, "The Legend of Miyue" smoothly entered the 2015 Golden Eagle Awards as one of the five nominated TV dramas for the "National Excellent Television Drama Award", with its two lead actors Bai Wenjie and Dong Ru also being nominated for "Best Actor" and "Most Popular Actress" respectively. If all this was expected, then what was unexpected was that Yan Yikuan, who played Qi Feng, was simultaneously nominated for both "Best Supporting Actor" and "Most Popular Actor".

  This news can be said to have caught even the top leaders of Chongqing off guard.

  "They have never given this award to a supporting actor who plays a Japanese role."

  "This year's ideology is more open than ever, has the leadership in charge of censorship been changed?"

  "What's with the shock? Aren't rules meant to be broken?"

  "Even a nomination would be great, it's a good omen, at least let those young actors who are more resistant to villainous roles see clearly that acting well also has the possibility of winning awards - congratulations to you, Yuan Yanyan."

  Congratulations to you, Yuan Jinyan.

  Congratulations to you.

  Congratulations.

  You.

  The moment I learned of this news, I felt like I was about to fly up into the sky.

  Everyone knows that the "Best Supporting Actor" award at the Golden Rooster Awards is jokingly referred to as the "Supporting Actor Graduation Award". This means that once an actor holds the trophy and steps onto the stage, from that moment on, his career as a supporting actor should come to an end. From then on, he will only have countless leading roles waiting for him to choose from and perform.

  The most popular actor award, this is through the "Popular TV" magazine and domestic provinces and cities TV program newspaper printed ballots written voting, the top three become nominated winners, the first place is the final winner of the award - This award has always been won by some old actors in previous years. This year, along with Jing Ran, there are also Lin Guowei, an actor of the same generation as Bai Wenqi, and Hao Er Dong, who is five or six years older than Jing Ran. The former was born in Chuan Na, and later went to act in some historical dramas, also a professional emperor; the latter is also considered an idol actor, but because he has acted in several big movies in recent years, his reputation is also solidly established. This year is his third time being nominated for "Most Popular Actor" award.

  As the saying goes, good things and bad things won't last for more than three times. This time, it's Haoranzhong's turn. He didn't expect to win such a big award with his first nomination, and his mindset is also good. His whole attitude is just "happy to participate".

  "Although I may not get any award in the end, at least I won't be as thoroughly humiliated as in previous years." Jian Ran said with tears streaming down his face, "I've finally managed to strut my stuff on the red carpet with some dignity."

  "Just look at your behavior."

  "I think I'm going to rush towards the throne of the big brother." The young man with black hair said with a smile, while pushing the person sitting next to him who was holding a computer and playing various games. "It's time for you to experience the pain of being a newcomer, walking the red carpet with a stiff upper lip, and being ridiculed for trying to sneak into the scene."

  Jiang Chuan lightly tapped his fingers and took down another person's head. In the background of the game's female voice "Ace", he turned around and gave a faint glance at the young black-haired man who was gloating: "Who told you I went to grab the scene?"

  "What's up?"

  Jiang Chuan: "'The Republic of China's Strange Stories' was at least nominated, and 'The World's Red Beauty' had good premiere data two days ago. In this situation, who do you think the 'Newcomer with Potential Award' should go to if not me?"

  “……”

  "That's it."

  The man finished speaking expressionlessly and turned his head to continue playing games, leaving behind a black-haired young man with a shocked face and a manager who was gloating. The young man slowly turned his head and stared at the manager, saying in a low voice: "……I've never even won the 'Potential Newcomer Award' at the Golden Flower Festival, how can he surpass me as my junior?"

  "The Yangtze River's rear waves push forward the front waves, and the front waves are destined to die on the beach." Fang Yulei said with a smile, "We need to adjust our mindset."

  "This thing that can't even stand up straight is only good for playing games!"

  "......" Jiang Chuan said slowly, "God is still God even without holy light, you said it yourself."

  “……”