Chapter 106.2: Tang Le Celebration
After showing Shen Xiu to the private room and confirming that he didn’t need any additional help, the guide left the room and quickly rushed to the front desk to gossip with his colleague.
“What was that expression you made just now? There’s definitely something fishy!”
The receptionist, who handled registrations and often reviewed the membership list, knew more than the guide. She pulled up the member list and said, “See for yourself.”
“Why are you looking at the bottom? Check the top… tsk, you’re too shallow. Very top.”
“Holy crap!” The guide was shocked when he followed the tip and saw the name right at the top of the list.
After the initial shock came confusion.
“Then why ignore Room 1?”
“You’re asking me? Who am I supposed to ask—why don’t you go ask him yourself?”
“…Forget it. I’m too chicken.”
—
In Private Room No. 6, Shen Xiu looked around at the obviously expensive furnishings and felt uneasy.
“System, do I have enough money in my account to pay for this?”
System: […More than enough.]
The system never lied to him, so Shen Xiu finally relaxed.
“Good.”
With that, Shen Xiu took out his phone and started practicing questions for the written driving test.
System: [?]
Doing that on the bus was one thing, but now they were at a gathering—a gathering, meant for fun, not for studying!
The system tried to get Shen Xiu to stop being a test-prepping machine and gently reminded him:
System: [Aren’t you going to check the reply of Immortal Path?]
Check some replies, maybe even peek at some gossip—wasn’t that way more interesting than dry test questions?
The system’s words were so cruelly on point that Shen Xiu found himself stuck staring at the same question twice.
“…”
He really wanted to beg the system not to embarrass him anymore!
After yesterday’s brave act, Shen Xiu had no courage at all to open his Weibo account today!
He had already rejected it once, and this time he would definitely be rejected if he approached shamelessly.
“I’ll deal with it tonight…”
Out of courage, Shen Xiu decided to put things off for now.
Afraid the system would dig the knife in deeper, he made it clear before diving back into studying: “Don’t interrupt me. I don’t want to score just 99 on the test.”
—
Meanwhile, outside the study, Xuan Ji was staring at his phone screen, his eyes red from staring too long. He paced anxiously back and forth along the hallway, muttering to himself:
“Why hasn’t Shen Xiu replied to me yet?”
“Why hasn’t he added me on WeChat?”
“Was it because I replied too slowly?”
“Wait, could it be that I worded something wrong and offended him?”
“Or did I accidentally send the rejection instead of the invitation? No, no, I didn’t mess that up. So what is the reason he’s ignoring me?”
“Dad, help me take a look…”
Bang!
What responded to Xuan Ji was Xuan Yushu’s merciless door slam.
—
At the same time, Du Heng stared at the rejected WeChat message, doubting his life choices.
“Xiao Gong, take a look for me—is this a rejection?”
After Duan Mingfei was dismissed and reassigned, the new assistant Xiao Gong leaned in, read the message, and then backed away a little before timidly saying, “Yes… They said the role of Li Yang has already been taken by a ‘mystery actor’.”
“Mystery actor?!” Du Heng exploded. “The person who replied must be out of their mind! What kind of production uses the words ‘mystery actor’ in an official response? Are they messing with me?”
Du Heng, whose eyes were dark and sunken from staying up all night gaming, stared at Xiao Gong.
“You’re sure this is the official contact for Immortal Path?”
Xiao Gong nodded with a shiver. “Yes.”
Du Heng took a deep breath, staggered a little as he grabbed the back of his chair for support, his head spinning with a sudden urge for oxygen.
“Don’t tell Lin Jiashi yet. Don’t let him know the role he wanted has already been taken. I’ll go and—”
Bang!
Before he could finish, the office door burst open with a loud crash as it slammed into the wall. Lin Jiashi’s voice followed immediately behind:
“Who dares to steal from me?!”
As Lin Jiashi stormed in, Xiao Gong hurried to shut the door again. Lin Jiashi’s furious voice echoed through the whole room.
“I already leaked the news to the marketing accounts, and now you’re telling me the role’s been taken? Are you kidding me?!”
Du Heng: “……”
‘I’m done.’
‘Forget it. Let it all burn. Whoever wants this crap job can have it.’
—
On the way to Tang Le, Song Chengwang had asked for Mu Zhenchu’s address and was now driving to pick him up.
On the road to Tang Le, Song Chengwang couldn’t help but ask, “Who helped you?”
Song Chengwang didn’t explain the background, but the moment he spoke, Mu Zhenchu knew exactly what he was asking.
Thinking of how Shen Xiu had treated them all equally and kindly, he figured Shen Xiu wouldn’t mind if their own people knew the truth, so he said, “Shen Xiu.”
It was the answer Song Chengwang had expected, but it still left a sour taste in his mouth.
“So you and Shen Xiu had this all planned out ahead of time? That’s why, even when you were clearly in trouble back then, you didn’t say a word to the rest of us? You only told Shen Xiu about your situation and figured you didn’t need to tell anyone else?”
“Even your social media post—Shen Xiu was the first to like and comment. What’s that supposed to mean?”
Mu Zhenchu was a bit dumbfounded by Song Chengwang’s barrage of questions.
Having spent so much time together, he naturally understood Song Chengwang’s personality. When Song Chengwang got passive-aggressive, he usually wasn’t actually angry. But when he exploded like Xia Wenhao and said exactly what he felt, that was when he was truly mad.
“You’ve misunderstood.”
Mu Zhenchu raised a hand to his forehead, finally finding the courage to explain now that things had already passed: “Whether it was you guys or Shen Xiu, I never planned to say anything. I really didn’t tell anyone.”
“It was Shen Xiu who happened to walk in on me arguing with Lin Jiashi. He figured it out on his own. You know how sharp he is—he’s smart and acts fast. That same day, he found someone to help me terminate my contract with Qinghe.”
Before Song Chengwang could respond, Mu Zhenchu quickly added, “But as for the details of how the contract was terminated—sorry, I really can’t disclose that.”
“If you’re still angry, go ahead and yell at me. I won’t talk back today.”
That response reminded Song Chengwang of the last time when Shang Yu had blocked the study door, refusing to let him in.
Feeling irritable, Song Chengwang said, “Forget it, whatever. As long as that’s not the case. What, you think I’m Xia Wenhao, ready to blow up the second someone says something wrong?”
Mu Zhenchu: “?”
Isn’t that… you?
—
Ten or so minutes later, the ten of them were all gathered in Private Room No.6 at Tang Le.
Yes—upon hearing about the gathering, Shi Buwen had shamelessly hitched a ride with Shang Yu and tagged along too.
Although the occasion was to celebrate Mu Zhenchu getting out of the mud pit, when he arrived, no one mentioned Qinghe at all. Instead, they simply went up one by one to hug or fist bump him in tacit understanding. Nothing needed to be said.
These hugs were different from the ones Shen Xiu shared with his teammates on stage. After weighing his options, when it was his turn, he opted for the same light fist bump that Shang Yu had given earlier.
After the fist bump, Shen Xiu stiffly returned to the couch and sat down.
Xiang Yueting had already picked up the microphone, his excited voice ringing through the room: “Alright, alright, stop being so serious! Let’s get this party started!”
With ten people gathered, there was no way things would stay quiet.
Drinking, singing, playing mahjong, snacking on fruit…
Everyone split into small groups and messed around noisily.
Out of all these options, Shen Xiu unhesitatingly chose the peaceful route: sitting quietly in a chair to play mahjong, especially since the table automatically arranged the tiles for him.
It was Shen Xiu’s first time playing, but after one round, he had already grasped the rules.
By the second round, he had memorized all the tiles. Based on the tiles already played, the patterns of others’ plays, and the tiles in his own hand, Shen Xiu didn’t lose a single round again.
As they played, more and more people gathered around the mahjong table, pulling up chairs to watch Shen Xiu, Xia Wenhao, Mu Zhenchu, and Shi Buwen.
Sitting beside Shen Xiu, Xiang Yueting looked puzzled: “Shen Xiu, are you wearing x-ray contact lenses or something?”
“You can guess even that?”
Shen Xiu: “…No.”
Xiang Yueting: “You monster. Good thing I don’t know how to play!”
As long as he didn’t know how to play, he wouldn’t get humiliated!
Everyone was using chips provided by the venue—just for fun—but Shi Buwen was losing miserably. Frustrated, he started trying to distract Shen Xiu in hopes of making him slip up and increasing his own chances of winning.
“Isn’t Jinghe starting classes? When do your classes begin? Once you start, will you still have time to practice dancing?”
“I’m telling you, practice time is limited. I’m giving you five days, and that’s it. After five days, we start filming. No waiting for you!”
Losing at the mahjong table was fine—he’d make up for it in other ways!
“Scared, aren’t you? If you’re scared, let me win a round, and I’ll graciously give you a deadline extension.”
Don’t make him get on his knees and beg—that would be way too humiliating!
Everyone else: “……”
At first, the room went silent at Shi Buwen’s words. Then came an explosion of laughter.
“Hahaha…”
“Practice? What practice? Do we look like the type who need it?”
“Director Shi, broaden your perspective just a teeny bit.”
“Exactly. When we act, it’s instantly iconic. Practice? Totally unnecessary~”
“Director Shi, maybe it’s better if you just keep losing. Our Captain Xiu doesn’t need your ‘generosity.’”
“Yeah yeah yeah, you’re all totally right!”
Shi Buwen stared at the group who were hyping each other up like a chorus: “Can you guys speak human for once?”
As the team leader, Shen Xiu took responsibility and said, “We’ve already practiced.”
He mentally pulled up his internal schedule and, after going over it, continued: “Classes officially start on the third day from today. I still have time tomorrow and the day after. Want to start filming then?”
Shi Buwen: “?!”
Shi Buwen threw out a tile and let out a deep sigh.
“I was the one thinking too small!”
He had only handed them the materials so they could get familiar with it. He didn’t expect they’d already practiced—and practiced to the point that they were ready to shoot. At this point, Shi Buwen felt like he was a pretty useless director.
“Alright then. Since you’re all ready, we’ll start filming over the next two days.”
After saying that, Shi Buwen seemed to suddenly remember something and turned to Shen Xiu curiously: “Shen Xiu, I heard you turned down the role of Li Yang in Immortal Path. Do you know who’s trying to play it now?”
Shen Xiu: “…No idea.”
Crap—he had competition!
As expected, missing out once could mean missing out for a lifetime.
Shi Buwen spat out two words: “Lin Jiashi.”
