Chapter 3: Take This Role!

DECEMBER 9, 2021 / KINKYTRANSLATIONS

Your Rival in Love Gets Prettier Every Day

Author: 公子于歌 / Gong Zi Yu Ge

Translator: Kinky

Li Meilan and the others were also a little embarrassed, saying that Cao Cao* had arrived.

*It’s in reference to Cao Cao (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cao_Cao).

“Mr. Yan, good morning.” She greeted Yan Qiuchi.

Yan Qiuchi nodded to her but kept looking at Shen Jintai behind her. Shen Jintai’s face turned red and white as he followed Li Meilan out of the elevator.

“It’s best to be like this.” He suddenly heard Yan Qiuchi say when passed by him.

……

Hearing this, Shen Jintai turned his head and looked over. He didn’t have on heavy makeup making his face look plain. His eyes were a little strange. He looked at Yan Qiuchi and said, “Then it’s just as you wish.”

Then in the stunned eyes of everyone, he passed Yan Qiuchi. Yan Qiuchi was startled. He didn’t smell the obnoxious overbearing perfume that Shen Jintai usually wear. When he looked back, he only saw Shen Jintai’s extraordinarily straight and thin back.

Oh my god, how cool was that!

He felt the clothes that he was wearing now was unlike the past. He wanted to put back all the clothes he took off in front of Yan Qiuchi that night, one by one!

“Ding Dong!” At this moment, Xiao Ai suddenly went online: “Congratulations, dear, for successfully obtaining 2 points!”

Damn, it was that easy?!

“It was a bit rattling just now. The male protagonist’s mood swings were detected, which can be regarded as a successful provocation.”

That felt so easy that he could feel his increased beauty would be just around the corner!

“President Yan, don’t be angry. He’s just like that. I don’t know what tricks he’s attempting this time.” Yan Qiuchi’s personal assistant, Gao Qiao, said in the elevator: “He must be playing hard to get!”

The staff next to him also echoed: “Yes. That’s it!”.

“Is he trying to imitate Bai Quingquan?” The speaker was a handsome, slightly evil-looking man with gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose. Despite his looks, he didn’t have a scholarly aura but instead was more like a well-dressed beast.

Yan Qiuchi’s friend Xiao Yang hated Shen Jintai just as much as he did. He raised his eyebrows and looked at Yan Qiuchi: “He’s much more pleasing to the eye now than he used to be.”

Yan Qiuchi’s face became colder.

Gao Qiao chuckled, “Is he trying to make a fool of himself?”

Yan Qiuchi glared at him quite seriously and Gao Qiao hurriedly shut his mouth.

Their boss has always disliked talking about people secretly, let alone the people around him, even if the person was Shen Jintai, who he hated the most. But Gao Qiao couldn’t understand what was going on in Shen Jintai’s head.

They have grown up with golden spoons in their mouths*. They graduated from a prestigious school. They were upstanding, well-educated, and have a rich demeanor. They behave like dervishes in their private lives. However, Shen Jintai was full of shortcomings of a dandy, the rich and the young, the bad temper and the prodigal. The only advantage he had going for him was he had money…  But that little money is but a fart in front of the Yan family. They were not comparable at all.

*Basically someone who was born with privilege and wealth and didn’t have to work for it.

Seeing Shen Jintai chase Yan Qiuchi seemed like such a joke!

Shen Jintai followed Li Meilan and the others into the dressing room.

As soon as he entered, he saw five to six people talking around a handsome guy in a white shirt. The handsome guy listened indifferently as he was slowly filing his nail. When he saw them coming in, he immediately stood up.

“Jintai, long time no see.”

With a tall figure with a tone of boyish and feminine appearance, and soft and delicate facial features, the impact of his beauty couldn’t be compared to those seen in photos or text.

As an ordinary reader, Shen Jintai had read the novel <Everyone Loves Bai Yueguang>, and his favorite character was Bai Yueguang. Readers have filters for the protagonist, and now the paper man had become a reality, standing in front of him vividly.

Shen Jintai remembered the description given to Bai Qingquan’s appearance in <Everyone Loves Bai Yueguang>: His skin was like a shelled egg, his eyes deep like a lake, and his lips were like flowers. Anyone who saw him were all impressed by his temperament.

The author even added a special sentence: “If such a description was used on others, it may be ridiculed by the readers, but if it is used on Bai Qingquan, it would only make people happy and sincere!”

Looking at the person in front of him now, it was the truth! That fairytale like temperament was ready to come out! It could, it really could!

With that he fell in love with his rival at first sight!

Shen Jintai also happily stretched out his hand: “You can still recognize me.” No one else seem to recognize him at first glance.

Bai Qingquan was obviously taken aback for a moment. He probably didn’t expect Shen Jintai, who dared to roll his eyes blatantly under the spotlight, to become so easy and gentle. He felt the same way when Li Meilan told him that Shen Jintai accepted his proposal. Surprised.

Bai Qingquan smiled and said: “Others don’t know. We both debuted together. When we were in the dormitory, I still didn’t know what you look like without your makeup on.”

Shen Jintai, look quite flashy when he had makeup on. Not wearing any makeup now, he looked like the boy next door. Contrary, Bai Qingquan, was a famous male god with or without makeup. It was said that he basically didn’t need to wear makeup when filming!

Shen Jintai couldn’t help but look at Bai Qingquan. Such a superb Xiaomei* 0, who wouldn’t want to bully him making his waist sore and his legs soft!

*Little sister.

“Have you met the director? “Bai Qingquan tried to ignore Shen Jintai’s somewhat overly enthusiastic gaze, and looked at Li Meilan with a smile

Li Meilan also showed a bit of a flattering expression to this current top talent and resource coffee in the entertainment industry: “Not yet. Thank you for this job. I will bring him to meet him now.”

Bai Qingquan said with a smile: “Then let’s go together.”

They left the dressing room, and the staff in the dressing room immediately got together and sighed.

“Oh my god. What a whirlwind. Who would have thought two years ago, Shin Jintai who was at the top of the industry would now have to rely on Bai Qingquan’s introduction for work!”

“Yeah, on the night of the finals that year, the two of them competed for the C position*, and the suspense stayed until the last moment. There were even three hot searches**!”

*The center position in a group of people. It is the most important and most visible to the audience, usually being held by the person with the greatest qualification and the highest status. The center position is the visible form of the power a celebrity holds, an important proof of a celebrity’s status in the entertainment industry. 

**Think “trending” topics I believe in this case Weibo.

“I heard that Bai Qingquan was just one vote short of him! This is too fucking dramatic! Moonlight powder* will regret it for life!”

*Bai Quingquan’s fans. (Quingquan = Moonlight).

“Speaking of moonlight powder, it’s hard to make peace! Who doesn’t know that Shen Jintai’s votes were all bought, and Bai Qingquan had to rely on his charm onstage to earn each vote!”

“But fortunately, Heaven is fair. Shen Jintai’s family is now bankrupt, and his reputation has been reduced to an 18th tier. The flow has changed a few times, but only Bai Qingquan remains at the top!”

“So the entertainment industry can’t tolerate a love filled brain. Is there anything wrong with love sickness?”

“You really have to watch this drama. The two rivals just shook hands and made peace. Now they are going to be in the same play as the first and second male lead. This topic is spicy!”

“You forgot to say that there is still a prince between the two of them!”

Speaking of Yan Qiuchi, a makeup artist blushed: “But it’s no wonder Shen Jintai was fascinated by the young man of the Yan family… he is also… really handsome. He can knock down a large area in the entertainment industry. He has money, looks and a nice figure. The perfect male god.”

“Damn it, what do you know. Everyone knows the rumors that Yan Qiuchi has already locked onto Bai Qingquan. Except for the crown prince of the Yan family, the fans have already started calling Bai Qingquan as Yan’s son-in-law!”

“That’s Prince Yan… Have you seen his long legs? How tall is he?”

*“那可是阎太子诶，苏断腿的存在……你们看到他的大长腿了嘛，他有多高啊？” I ommitted 苏断腿的存在 since I have no idea what’s they’re trying to say.

“I-I only noticed his hand, those deadly hands…”

“There is also his Adam’s apple so deadly!”

“Waist, that deadly waist, is definitely the best among men!”

“He really has an indescribable sense of abstinence, I could understand why Shen Jintai was so obsessed with him.”

“Heh! What’s the use of being obsessed. Compare to Shen Jintai’s condition, can you compete against Bai Qingquan?!”

……

Li Meilan walked behind Shen Jintai and kept looking at him cautiously.

Shen Jintai has a dandyish habit that offended many people in the entertainment industry. Every time she sees Bai Qingquan, she can only roll her eyes when comparing him with Shen Jintai. She already had enough work as it is, yet she still had to repeatedly teach him how to behave. Still, Shen Jintai never listened. Despite Bai Qingquan’s fan ripping Shen Jintai to shred, Bai Qingquan still smiled and remained cordial when he saw Shen Jintai. This was the quality of being a top star!

However, she was very surprised today. Shen Jintai turned out to be very obedient and not at all impatient.

Shen Jintai stared at the back of Bai Qingquan’s head and thought. ‘Be grateful.’

There’s no actor who didn’t want traffic. This traffic is in the sense of fans, as well as ratings and box office performance. If he gets no traffic, it basically means he won’t have a connection with the male protagonist. At least he still had a reputation of being an old actor*. Well now that he was only twenty years old he could try to be the second male lead in this big drama!

*Referring to his previous life.

He had to seize this opportunity!

The name of this drama was <The East Palace is Coming>, an ancient costume drama that had a mix of political conspiracy and power struggles.

He recognized it immediately just by looking at the name! This play was mentioned in the original book!

The male lead of this drama was the top star Bai Qingquan, the female lead was Yang Liuzhi, the first flower of the 90s, and the director was Guo Rui, who just made a big hit drama. With such an ensemble, this drama could be considered as the most anticipated drama of the year. In fact, he remembered that after the broadcast of this drama, it exploded to phenomenal levels benefitting all the cast, including several newcomers who was able to ride on its coattails.

Shen Jintai died early. Otherwise, seeing Bai Qingquan rise to stardom from this drama would make him boil over with rage.

<The East Palace is Coming> is a palace fighting drama with few men. Bai Qingquan played the prince. As for Shen Jintai, he was neither the emperor or the taoist doctor or the guard in the play, but instead a little eunuch.

The young eunuch, the confidant of the male protagonist, followed his master’s ascension step by step. Like the ascension of chickens and dogs*, he finally became the great eunuch of a powerful dynasty, and the ultimate villain in the later period.

*An idiom for a person who became an official and the people who followed him benefitted as well. Apparently it came from a story about the Huainan King Liu An. Long story short: he cultivate an elixir that would allowed him to ascend heaven and become an immortal. After ascension, he scattered the remaining elixir in the yard and it was eaten by chickens and dogs thus allowing them to ascend as well.

He was garish, ​​bad, and treacherous. His feelings for the male protagonist were very subtle and could make the audience emotional.

Not only did the heroine had to fight with other women, but she had to contend with little eunuchs as well. Such innovation to this kind of plot will surely make the drama popular!

The section he wanted to try was his highlight. In order to help his master enter the Eastern Palace, the little eunuch relied on his beauty to seduce and frame the prince as a cut-sleeve*. After being caught by the queen, he intended to sow discord between the queen mother and Empress to whittle the harmony between the Empress and the queen and prince.

*Cut-Sleeve = Homosexual.

“A slave is only a mere humble slave, and can only obey the instructions of their masters. His Royal Highness wanted a slave to serve, and the slave can only serve with all his heart. If the service is not good, the prince would be dissatisfied. If the service is good, the Empress wants to cure the sin of the slave. It seems that the only path this slave has is death.”

Could it be that the scale of this TV series in this novel world is so grand that they can shoot anything?

“Are you ready?” Director Guo Rui asked with a smile.

Shen Jintai put down the piece of paper in his hand, let out a sigh of relief, and nodded.

In his previous life he used to struggle with resources. He relied on audition after audition for every play to hone his abilities. He had many rich experiences so he’s able to show his acting skills using the shortest amount of time with the fewest lines. Crying was his strong point.

It was just a little embarrassing.

He had read those type of novels before that had thunderous scenes that traversed the sudden changes in a female temperament shocking the audience with their explosive skills. Now he is going to reproduce this bloody scene!

How embarrassing, yet also exciting.

“Do you need me to help you with this scene?” Bai Qingquan asked in a warm voice: “I’m afraid you will be embarrassed if you act alone.”

Seeing was believing. Sure enough, he was a beautiful kind-hearted little princess.

“Okay.” Shen Jintai said. Having more contact with Bai Qingquan will make accomplishing tasks easier in the future.

Li Meilan and Xiaotang both clenched their fists, and everyone in the room stared at them.

Oh my god! They really want to take out their mobile phones and record this! Unfortunately news about this drama could not be leaked.

Bai Qingquan was going to hit Shen Jintai! Rumor has it that Shen Jintai once slapped Bai Qingquan in a dressing room two years ago. Is this going to be the reenactment but flipped?

“Fake fight, right? “Bai Qingquan said.

“Let’s really fight so the reaction is more real.” Shen Jintai rubbed his hair and said, “You don’t need to be merciful.”

Bai Qingquan’s eyes looked uncertained, and his red lips curled slightly.

“Let’s get started.” Guo Rui clenched the script tightly.

Shen Jintai nodded at Bai Qingquan. Bai Qingquan’s lips trembled slightly, as if he couldn’t restrain his inner excitement as he immersed himself into the play: “Shameless dog minion, how dare you charm the prince!”

After saying his line, a loud “Pap!” rang out as he directly slapped Shen Jintai.

Shit!

Li Meilan shuddered. Jintai, don’t run away! This was all an act! She was really afraid that Shen Jintai would suddenly erupt.

Shen Jintai rubbed the corner of his mouth, then raised his head. The look in his eyes changed.

Li Meilan thought: ‘…Is this… really the Shen Jintai she brought?’

The rotten wood, which always been considered unworkable is now blooming in spring!

The author has something to say:

Be my little princess, just eat forks and don’t suffer.

This is just a warm-up for Zhenxiang’s face, and it will be more refreshing in the future.

This novel is updated at 9 o’clock in the morning every day. It is timed. If it’s not published, the system will be delayed. You can look for it in the catalog.

Kinky thoughts: Sorry lots of footnotes for translation issues. Help would be greatly appreciated with them!

So… lets take a vote… will Bai Qingquan turn out to be a white lotus (bitch)*?

*The term refers to a female character who appears innocent, naïve, impossibly perfect, and pure on the surface, but uses this reputation to back stab, blame, or sling mud on others.

Y’all I went back and did my research. All I can say is I really hate idioms… but at least the translation makes sense now!