Feng Ya Lun’s situation cast a pall of gloom over everyone at Yimate.
Within Yimate, Feng Ya Lun was the company’s number-one male star. Outside the company, he was Yimate’s public face. For something like this to happen to him was the equivalent of Yimate being slapped hard across the face.
Ma Rui’s mood these past few days could only be described as having plunged straight to rock bottom. His secretary lived in constant fear, treating every morning she came to work like entering prison and every evening she left like successfully escaping from it. She had not logged into QQ in ages, afraid that if she “hung” QQ for too long, she might accidentally end up “hung” herself.
Elio’s Notes: 挂 QQ means to leave QQ logged in or running, while 挂了 can also mean that someone has died or something has crashed. The secretary is so terrified of Ma Rui’s mood that even the ordinary phrase for leaving QQ running becomes a morbid pun.
Xiao Bai continued running back and forth among the television station, the company, the hospital, and home.
Although Gao Qin had suggested arranging for him to stay at a hotel, Xiao Bai refused.
He did not think he had any news worth digging up. Even if reporters cornered him, the worst that would happen was that he would have to stand outside for a little longer. He had even started waking up earlier specifically to leave time for that, which unfortunately forced the reporters waiting for him to start waking up earlier too.
But after following him for several days without managing to pry anything out of him, the reporters had been driven nearly insane by the endless repetition of “I don’t know,” “Really?” and “Is that so?” Even a saint would have lost his mind listening to it. So after only three days, the area downstairs from Xiao Bai’s home was peaceful again.
With Jia Zhi Qing in the hospital and Feng Ya Lun in detention, Xiao Bai and Gao Qin temporarily became partners.
Gao Qin was obviously far more efficient than Jia Zhi Qing. Not only did he arrange Xiao Bai’s work in perfect order, he even calculated travel and mealtimes with remarkable precision. Xiao Bai clearly noticed that he was having to use his brain less and less for everyday matters while his work schedule suddenly became much fuller. Every so often, he was even sent onto entertainment programs as a guest—the kind with so many participants that even if he stood off to one side without saying anything, it would not affect the show at all.
For example, he had already recorded La La Lai twice in just two days.
After leaving the studio, Xiao Bai was preparing to call Gao Qin, report his whereabouts, and then go home.
The instant the call connected, Gao Qin’s voice came rattling through the line like a string of firecrackers. “Go to the studio on the third floor immediately and fill in on Ping-Pong King. Director Chen is waiting for you—the same Director Chen you worked with on GO! GO! SU… SUPER STAR. He’ll tell you what to do once you get there. Remember: don’t contradict the hosts. Talk less and smile more. Just keep smiling your way through the entire show.”
Originally, Gao Qin had not wanted Xiao Bai to substitute. Yimate’s standing had already taken a considerable hit since Feng Ya Lun was detained. If Xiao Bai offended anyone else now, Ma Rui would probably put him on ice so thoroughly that he disappeared off the map.
But the scheduled guest, Gossip Kid, had been in a car accident on the way over and was reportedly badly injured. There was absolutely no chance of him making it to the studio. One of Ping-Pong King’s two hosts was Li Mo, a veteran whose standing was no lower than Xiao Fu Ping’s, while the other was Zhong Yao, one of the hottest personalities in variety television. Neither was someone they could casually brush off after making a request. Besides, the live broadcast was about to begin, and there genuinely was no other suitable replacement available at such short notice.
After thinking it over, Gao Qin still could not put his mind at ease. He hung up, threw on his coat, and headed out immediately.
Ever since Feng Ya Lun had become a Heavenly King, Gao Qin had rarely needed to worry this much.
Thinking about that, he could not help muttering another curse at the bastard currently eating jail food.
By the time Gao Qin hurried into the studio, filming had already begun.
Sandwiched between the two hosts, Xiao Bai looked somewhat nervous. The first time he had hosted a show, ignorance had made him fearless. But the deeper he entered the industry and the more he learned, the more he realized just how many things there were to watch out for.
Ping-Pong King was divided into two segments.
The first was a table-tennis match between the guest and the hosts.
Under the show’s established character setup, Li Mo was the hopeless king of terrible ping-pong, basically losing ten times out of ten. Zhong Yao was the Battle King, frequently playing the role of the man who turned certain defeat into victory.
The matches followed a best-of-three format. Li Mo and Zhong Yao would each play one match against the guest. If the hosts ended up with one win and one loss, Zhong Yao would take the final deciding match. Since Li Mo had never won and Zhong Yao rarely lost, most episodes could be reliably stretched to all three matches.
Xiao Bai, however, was an exception.
Even serving the ball was difficult for him, but Chen Fei was not worried in the slightest about filling airtime, because Xiao Bai spent an enormous amount of time chasing after and picking up balls.
Li Mo and Zhong Yao watched his clumsy movements and laughed until they nearly fell over.
Xiao Bai firmly remembered Gao Qin’s instructions. When they laughed, he smiled. When they doubled over laughing, he kept smiling.
Eventually Zhong Yao could not take it anymore. “Xiao Bai, what exactly are you laughing at?”
“Nothing.”
Zhong Yao widened his eyes. “You’re laughing even though there’s nothing?”
“That’s why I’m laughing. Because there’s nothing.”
From beside them, Li Mo mocked Zhong Yao. “See? He’s laughing because you’re such a nothing.”
Zhong Yao shot back, “Unlike you, of course. You’ve got everything a man could want. Got yourself a mistress yet?”
Li Mo bristled. “Is that how you talk to your senior? Don’t you know my wife watches every episode? If she hears that, you’re going to start a war in my household!”
Zhong Yao laughed. “Don’t worry. She already fell asleep watching Xiao Bai pick up ping-pong balls.”
“What if she watches the rerun?”
“Then she can fall asleep again.”
There was absolutely no suspense over the outcome. The hosts’ team won.
Zhong Yao sighed. “That was the easiest victory I’ve ever had.”
Li Mo said, “That was the hardest victory I’ve ever had.”
Zhong Yao stared at him. “Hardest?”
“I’ve never won before. I thought I was going to go my whole life without ever getting the chance…” Overcome with emotion, Li Mo suddenly dropped to his knees and cried, “Thank you, heavens! Thank you, Xiao Bai’s father and mother! Your son is magnificent!”
Zhong Yao said, “Not worried about your wife seeing you now?”
“Didn’t you say she fell asleep?” Li Mo got back to his feet.
“But you just shouted loudly enough to wake her up.”
Li Mo shrugged. “Forget it. I kneel so often at home that she probably won’t find anything unusual about it.”
Zhong Yao turned toward Xiao Bai. “Do you know what happens when you lose at ping-pong?”
Xiao Bai nodded. “I get punished.”
Zhong Yao rubbed his chin. “What should we punish you with?”
Li Mo eagerly suggested, “How about making him go out onto the street and do a striptease?”
“Our program strives to be wholesome, positive, and uplifting,” Zhong Yao said solemnly. “Its content must be healthy and educational.”
Li Mo nearly fainted. “What educational value could playing ping-pong possibly have?”
“It teaches us that if you’re not going to do something, don’t do it at all. But once you do, you have to do it well. You must never give up halfway. You must strive to excel, or the consequences will be miserable.” Zhong Yao clenched his fist, his entire face radiating determination.
Li Mo sighed in admiration. “You really know how to bullshit.”
Zhong Yao smiled. “Bullshitting is how I make my living.”
“Then how do I make mine?”
“By clowning around and exposing the intimate details of your life with your wife.”
Li Mo gave a bitter smile. “Why is my career so tragic?”
“That’s the difference between having a highly developed brain and highly developed limbs.”
“I seem to remember being your senior. Don’t you think that’s going a little too far?”
Zhong Yao immediately bowed with great solemnity. “I’m sorry.”
Li Mo placed a hand on top of his head. “On God’s behalf, I forgive you.”
“Can we start punishing Xiao Bai now?”
“Mm. What punishment did you have in mind?”
“This is Xiao Bai’s first time on our show. We can’t torment him too badly, or next time he sees us he’ll take a detour.”
Li Mo nodded. “Right. Play the long game.”
“I’ve decided…” Zhong Yao paused dramatically. “He has to call any male friend he wants and confess his feelings to him. And he’s not allowed to reveal that he’s doing it for a television show.”
Li Mo added, “No calling your manager.” He pointed toward Gao Qin. “Look, his manager is right there.”
The cameraman immediately gave Gao Qin a shot.
Zhong Yao took the speakerphone attachment from a staff member. “Hurry up and decide. Who are you calling?”
Xiao Bai opened his phone’s contact list and discovered that it contained only four lonely numbers.
Jia Zhi Qing—manager. X.
Gao Qin—manager. X.
Feng Ya Lun—detention center. X.
That left only Yan Su Ang.
Yan Su Ang himself had entered the number after they finished eating malatang together that day.
Zhong Yao sneaked a glance at the screen, immediately sucked in a sharp breath, and started stamping his feet in excitement. “Today’s ratings are going to skyrocket!”
Li Mo looked baffled. “Why?”
“I saw whose name that was.”
“Who?”
Zhong Yao leaned over and secretly whispered it into Li Mo’s ear.
Li Mo exaggeratedly sucked in a breath. “Do you think he’ll actually call him?”
Zhong Yao snickered. “There are only four numbers in his contacts. Two of them are his managers.”
“So that gives him a fifty-percent chance.”
What had happened with Feng Ya Lun was a scandal. Naturally, Zhong Yao was not about to bring it up in front of Yimate’s ace manager and one of its artists, so he merely said vaguely, “I think the odds are very, very good.”
Li Mo turned to Xiao Bai. “Ready?”
Xiao Bai nodded.
Zhong Yao plugged the phone into the speaker and said excitedly, “Then call!”
Xiao Bai selected Yan Su Ang and pressed the call button.
The phone rang twice before it was answered.
Yan Su Ang’s voice came clearly through the speaker. “Xiao Bai?”
Zhong Yao and Li Mo immediately grabbed each other and started dancing a tango.
“Mm,” Xiao Bai stammered.
“What is it?” Yan Su Ang enunciated each word very clearly.
Zhong Yao snatched the cue card out of Chen Fei’s hands and jabbed repeatedly at the words “CONFESS YOUR FEELINGS.”
For no apparent reason, Xiao Bai’s face turned red. “I… I wanted… wanted to say…”
Zhong Yao and Li Mo frantically gestured encouragement.
“Wanted to?” Yan Su Ang paused, then laughed. “Wanted to invite me out for a meal?”
Zhong Yao and Li Mo faced each other and desperately mouthed, Food! Food!
“No.” Xiao Bai caught sight of Gao Qin’s faintly furrowed brows. His heart tightened, and the words rushed out before he could think. “I wanted to confess my feelings to you.”
Zhong Yao and Li Mo immediately embraced again.
Yan Su Ang was silent for a full six seconds before hesitantly asking, “Are you on a variety show?”
Zhong Yao and Li Mo opened their mouths exaggeratedly wide, then furiously gave him thumbs-up.
“Don’t tell me it’s Ping-Pong King?” Yan Su Ang laughed.
Xiao Bai froze, then instinctively answered, “Yes.”
Zhong Yao spoke up. “So, Su Ang, how do you feel about Xiao Bai’s confession?”
Yan Su Ang laughed. “I feel like it’s missing some roses and a candlelit dinner.”
Li Mo said, “I’ll call and arrange those immediately.”
The sound of a television could be heard from the other end of the line.
Zhong Yao immediately waved toward the camera. “Can you see me?”
“Mm. Your clothes look a little big. They’re not yours, are they?”
“Mm. They belonged to Xiao Fu Ping thirty years ago.” Zhong Yao spun around. “Still in excellent condition.”
Li Mo exclaimed dramatically, “You actually came onto the show wearing an antique? Be careful someone doesn’t rob you.”
Zhong Yao pressed a hand to his forehead and sighed. “Even when I’m not wearing antiques, people are always trying to strip my clothes off in the street. I’m used to it.”
Li Mo said, “If people are already trying to strip you, what are we supposed to do with Yan Su Ang?”
Yan Su Ang laughed. “I’ll go strip Zhong Yao’s clothes myself.”
Zhong Yao pretended to become shy. “Don’t be so direct. Xiao Bai will get jealous.”
Li Mo covered his face. “My god. I can’t believe I have to be your co-host.”
Zhong Yao stuck out his tongue and laughed. “Thank you, Yan Su Ang. Xiao Bai, would you like to confess one more time?”
Xiao Bai hurriedly shook his head.
After hanging up, however, Yan Su Ang’s heart remained anything but calm.
He had no choice but to admit that the moment Xiao Bai said he wanted to confess his feelings, his heart had leapt. He had been even more nervous and overwhelmed than during his first love, his mind going completely blank. If Gao Qin had not texted him beforehand to say that Xiao Bai was doing a variety show, Yan Su Ang might actually have exposed his true emotional reaction.
Thank goodness… Thank goodness Gao Qin was there.
Still shaken by how close he had come, Yan Su Ang reached for the bottle of red wine, only for his hand to slip. He opened his palm and discovered that it had already become slick with sweat.
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