Chapter 11: Xi Gu and Silly, Cute Women

“What are you doing?” Rongcheng Jue suddenly poked his head out of the banquet hall, not knowing how long she had been there.

Master Yao turned away from him and almost fell to his knees in shock. Ye Zhen, seeing the sudden appearance of the rumored male lead, waved the tea bag in her hand and said, “I won’t break this.”

“Is that all you said?” Rongcheng Jue said, letting go of the door frame. He walked over and inspected the tea bag in Ye Zhen’s hand, thinking that it didn’t look right. “I just heard him say something about the CEO or something.” He had been paying attention to the movements over here and felt off about the way Master Yao was looking at him, so he followed his instincts and came over to hear that, it was strange not to be suspicious.

Master Yao stiffened: I’m done, I’m done, I’m done…

“Uh, my master said we shouldn’t believe the things in CEO romance dramas.” 

It seems like that’s really the tone, so Rongcheng Jue relaxed, “That’s right, they can’t be trusted. They’re all too childish, so let’s not make any CEO romance dramas or anything like that.

He still remembered that she wanted to be a producer~

“Let’s talk about it later,” Instead of answering directly, Ye Zhen continued, “Before I came here, Xi Gu said that you had reserved a position for me at Rongcheng Entertainment. Is that still valid?”

“Of course. The position of deputy director in charge of data analysis and coordination in the IP Expansion Department has been reserved for you. However,” Rongcheng Jue added, trying to promote, “if you are willing to join the group company, I would be even happier.

“Thank you, but I do not dare.”

“Oh.” Actually, the failure of Amway* didn’t affect Rongcheng Jue’s good mood at all. After all, it was his company. It was just a matter of managing more and taking care of the work and lives of the subsidiary’s employees. The CEO expressed that this was no big deal at all. Hahaha–

[TL/N: Chinese slang referring to the act of promoting or selling something to someone often in a persistent and annoying manner.]

“Hey hey, what are you all talking about outside?” Perhaps because the friends had been outside for too long, Xi Gu also came over and greeted them, “The main dishes and crayfish are on the table, if you don’t eat now, they will be gone!”

“Oh good, I’ll be right there.” Master Yao was the first to react and quickly ran into the banquet hall.

Xi Gu gave him a “I didn’t come here to call you out” look, then turned to the group of friends and said, “It’s ‘broad daylight’*, aren’t you two coming in?”

[TL/N: literally implying [sarcastically] that they are making out in broad daylight lol]

Did you mean to use ‘broad daylight’ like that? Rongcheng Jue thought with a hint of annoyance before escorting Ye Zhen back to the banquet hall and returning to their seats at the main table. As expected, most of the crayfish had already been eaten, so Rongcheng Jue didn’t hesitate to scoop up the rest onto his own plate. He then gave Ye Zhen a gentlemanly smile and said, “Let me help you peel them.”

Xi Gu sat down next to him and pushed him, “Look at you! Didn’t this brother warn you? There are paparazzi lurking around the hotels near the Film and Television City.”

His reminder was not to prevent rumors between Rongcheng Jue and Ye Zhen, but for the sake of his “family status.

During the time it takes to eat an overnight meal, the news of the new season of rumors about Rongcheng Jue had spread to everyone due to the highly developed Internet in this era.

In the past, there were occasional rumors of romantic scandals involving Rongcheng Jue, but they were always with female celebrities, Internet celebrities, and so on. This time, however, with the help of online video clues and the discovery of the female lead’s impressive academic achievements, netizens inexplicably believed that the “Internet celebrity” CEO was really in love and that he was “climbing up” to her level.

If you don’t believe it, take a look at the evidence – Rongcheng Entertainment’s stock price has reversed its previous decline and has already hit the daily limit!

Other related subsidiaries have also seen some increase, and even the shares of Rongcheng Group, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, have risen a bit upon hearing the news.

This shows that we are not what some public intellectuals say, that Chinese people are ignorant, society is impetuous, and everyone is obsessed with money. We actually cherish the value of knowledge and the power of role models! Although it’s a little painful to see a genius girl matched with a local tyrant, considering that the local tyrant is still young and handsome and seems to love her, let’s give him a chance…

Except for Rong Chengjue’s “wife” fans, the above is currently the mainstream public opinion among the people who eat melons. If it were anyone else, Xi Gu might have enjoyed watching the show, but Rongcheng Jue is his brother after all, and Xi Gu hopes that he can be treated equally and harmoniously by everyone, and at least earn the reputation of a “talented and handsome man”.

This is such a bootlicking move to forcefully peel the shrimp for the girl, it burns my damn eyes!

Unfortunately, Rongcheng Jue was completely unaware of the “heartache” Xi Gu had for him. After peeling a shrimp with oily hands, he proudly showed it to Xi Gu before happily placing it in Ye Zhen’s bowl, saying, “Don’t stare at it, I know you’re jealous of me…”

He must be crazy to sympathize with this grandson: “I am not jealous, thank you.”

“Mhmm.” Rongcheng Jue pretended to believe it.

This made Xi Gu furious! “Let me tell you, I only like someone who’s cute and silly,” He leaned close to Rongcheng Jue’s ear and gritted his teeth, “I’m not someone who likes to be dominated like someone else! With that person’s IQ, they’ll eat you alive in minutes!”*

[TL/N: Xi Gu is saying that he prefers someone less intelligent, even stupid than be dominated by his partner unlike Rongcheng Jue whose pairing Ye Zhen’s iq is higher than him^-^]

Rongcheng Jue looked at him surprise, “You prefer silly—”

“Bang—” Just as they were talking, a woman suddenly fell heavily to her knees in front of them. Seeing that her head was about to hit the corner of the table, Xi Gu instinctively reached out to stop her, only to end up hurting himself and grimacing in pain.

The woman jumped back up energetically, flipped her long hair and bowed repeatedly, “Thank you, thank you…”

For the sake of her good looks, Xi Gu reluctantly kept his composure, waving his hand and gesturing for her not to thank him.

As a result, the woman turned around and left. It was not known whether she misunderstood and thought he was asking her to leave, or whether she thought it was enough to thank him.

Don’t you have eyes? My hand still hurts! As he stared at his hand turning blue, Xi Gu couldn’t help but feel aggrieved. But just then, the woman returned with a bottle of beer in her hand.

What? Is she trying to offer him a drink? Doesn’t she know that he, Xi Gu, is known in the circle for not drinking? Is this woman stupid—

“Sorry, everyone,” the woman said, using one hand to pop the cap off the bottle with a heroic tone, “I’m late, so I’ll punish myself with a bottle first.” With that, she tilted her head back and downed the entire bottle of beer.

Narcissist Xi Gu: ……

“Good, great!” The crowd chatting together saw this and cheered, “More, more!”

The woman wiped her mouth, and without saying a word, turned around to look for more drinks. Master Yao, who was sitting two tables away, suddenly called out to her, “Bai Qiutang? Why are you here?”

Bai Qiutang, who had just grabbed a bottle of liquor, turned around and smiled, “Master Yao, you’re here too. I’ll go apologize to the big bosses at the main table first and come over to offer you a toast~”

“Oh dear,” Master Yao sighed, shaking his head in disbelief. “Why are you toasting drinks here, Bai Qiutang? The cast and crew of your TV show are next door!”

“?!”

Master Yao stopped them and pointed to the main table where Xi Gu, Li Dao, and others were sitting, saying, “Open your eyes and take a good look. This is the wrap party for “The Great Tang Treasure”, and next door is the kick-off party for the web drama “Female Special Forces in Ancient Times!” It’s okay for me to go there after I’m done here, but what are you doing here? You don’t have a role here.”

“….” Bai Qiutang’s eyes widened and she carefully recognized the people at the main table. Realizing her mistake, she let out an apologetic, awkward laugh. She waved to the people at the main table who were watching her from afar, put down the bottle, covered her face, and slipped away.

Xi Gu, whose hand had already begun to turn purple: Who can understand my pain?

Rongcheng Jue, not forgetting the past, continued, “You said you like fools, such as this one?”

“Am I crazy?!”

“Alright, alright,” Rongcheng Jue patted his shoulder with his oily hands, “No need to explain, Bro has your back. But there is one thing, don’t say that Bro didn’t remind you.”

“What?”

“There are paparazzi lurking around the hotels near the Film and Television City.”

“…..”

TL: “傻白甜” is a Chinese slang term used to describe someone who appears innocent and naive, often with a simple and pure personality. The literal translation of the term is “silly, white, and sweet.” It is often used in a derogatory way to describe someone who lacks intelligence or critical thinking skills, or to criticize a person’s overly simplistic or unrealistic worldview.

This is what I wanted to translate in the chapter heading and also when Xi Gu talks about it to Rongcheng Jue:)