Your Rival in Love Gets Prettier Every Day

Chapter 77: I also Gave you a Gift

After Yan Qiuchi took a shower, he sat on the bed and kept shaking his legs. His expression was very solemn, and his lips were tightly pursed. Shen Jintai’s Harper’s Bazaar magazine was still on the bedside.

The filming for The East Palace was over. The crew had given Shen Jintai a parting gift. It was live photos that were shot during the filming process. Most of them were behind-the-scenes tidbits. All the cast and crew were sent these. It could be considered a commemorative gift from the crew to the entire staff.

“Then you can send it to me.” Shen Jintai said.

Li Meilan asked while she flipped through the photos: “Are you still at the Yan family mansion?”

Shen Jintai: “Yeah.”

Li Meilan hung up as she turned a page. Suddenly something caught her eye. It was a photo of Shen Jintai blowing out his birthday candles. Standing next to him are directors Guo Rui, Zheng Siqi, Bai Qingquan and others. The surrounding group was full of crew members, but she saw an outstanding face in that group.

It was a person standing in the upper left corner of the photo. It was night when this photo had been taken, but the darkness from the night accentuated this person’s facial features. With a tall figure that had a straight nose and fair complexion, it couldn’t be anyone else than Yan Qiuchi.

Yan Qiuchi was staring at Shen Jintai with a smile on his face that Li Meilan had never seen before. It was like she was seeing a very gentle illusion.

Gentle… this shouldn’t really match Yan Qiuchi. He was a person famous for being an iceberg tyrant!

She quickly flipped through the photos again. She didn’t pay much attention at first when she went through it the first time as she was only focusing on Shen Jintai. This time around she started paying attention to other people and caught another photo. In its most inconspicuous corner was Yan Qiuchi. He was looking at Shen Jintai across from the crew’s equipment.

Because the lens of these photos were focused on Shen Jintai, if you didn’t pay attention closely, you wouldn’t have noticed Yan Qiuchi. This time Li Meilan was positive. Yan Qiuchi was looking at Shen Jintai. She felt she was getting goosebumps!

What’s going on?!

She took the car and drove to the Yan family mansion. When she arrived at the gate, she looked through the car window and saw an excellent-looking, tall young man standing in the shade nearby.

The car stopped in front of Shen Jintai, and Li Meilan got out: “Why did you come out?”

“Taking a walk.” Shen Jintai asked: “Did you bring the photo album?”

“Brought it.” Li Meilan handed it to him: “I also brought a script for a TV series. Take a look.”

Shen Jintai took it. Without looking at the photo album, he took out the script and started reading it. It was called <Marriage Besieged>. He was stunned. There were very few series that focused on marriage and love themes.

Shen Jintai: “A straight marriage?”

Li Meilan nodded: “It’s rare to receive such a script. We took a look and thought that it was well written. It focuses on the current situation of marriage and love among the younger generation. The director could potentially be Zhao Wentao, who often makes urban youth dramas. You can take a look first, but you don’t have to accept it.”

Shen Jintai felt what he has now were enough. The main reason was that his team had set a route for him to win in quality. If the project didn’t have box office explosion or award-winning potential, then it was rejected.

Li Meilan felt that the dividends from <The East Palace is Coming> were enough for Shen Jintai to eat for three or four years as it was considered a masterpiece. All actors wanted to be on the big screen. With good movie resources, Shen Jintai didn’t need to consider making another TV series, unless the quality was comparable to that of The East Palace.

Li Meilan also knew this and still brought the script over. It wasn’t because it was very well written so most likely should have been a favor.

He raised his head and glanced at Li Meilan. Li Meilan had a tacit understanding with him, and said: “Someone asked President Ji to step in. He’s not a pushover so this is just for you to look at. The final choice remains in your hands.”

“Then I’ll go back and take a look.” Shen Jintai said: “You don’t need to pick me up tomorrow. Just wait for me at the airport.”

“There will be many fans dropping you off.” Li Meilan reminded.

Shen Jintai nodded. Before entering the crew, he had a lot of promotional activities to do. He had picked up several endorsements. When he enters the crew, he’ll be closed off so he had to fulfill these promotions before then.

Li Meilan asked: “How is it living at the Yan’s house? Are you used to it?”

Shen Jintai nodded: “It’s pretty good.”

Li Meilan tentatively asked: “Does President Yan often stay at home?”

Shen Jintai raised his head and glanced at her.

Li Meilan nervously laughed: “I have always been curious about the relationship between you two. Wouldn’t it be really embarrassing for you two to get along like before?”

“It’s all in the past. I made it clear a long time ago. Now he is not interested in me, and I’m not interested in him either.” Shen Jintai thought she suspected that his old love was rekindling: “I’ve told you eight hundred times already. Once broken, stays broken. Don’t worry about it.”

“Nn,” Li Meilan said: “Taking advantage of the current momentum, let’s attack our career!”

As soon as she finished speaking, she heard a car coming from a distance. She glanced back, and a Maybach stopped in front of them. The window rolled down showing Yan Qiuchi sitting inside. It’s really true. Speak of Cao Cao and Cao Cao appears.

“President Yan,” Li Meilan hurriedly greeted him.

Yan Qiuchi asked: “Came to deliver something?”

“The East Palace released a commemorative book. Do you want it?” Shen Jintai asked with a smile.

Yan Qiuchi: “What memorial book?”

“I’ll show it to you later.” Shen Jintai said.

Li Meilan looked at them with a dry smile. She was about to lose her mind.

“Get in the car. I’ll give you a ride.” Yan Qiuchi said.

“No, I’ll walk.” Shen Jintai said.

Unexpectedly, Yan Qiuchi got out of the car, closed the door and said: “Then let’s go together.”

Li Meilan: “…”

“You go back first. See you tomorrow at 9.” Shen Jintai said to her.

“…Okay.” Li Meilan shook hands with Yan Qiuchi as she got into her car in a panic. Before the car even turned around, Shen Jintai and Yan Qiuchi were already walking towards the manor together.

The yard was filled with old trees that have been around for decades. Their branches covered the sky. Bits of sunlight shined down through their leaves. May was nearing its end. Yan Qiuchi was wearing a formal suit while Shen Jintai had on a casual outfit, loose jeans, a white t-shirt, and a fisherman’s hat. From the back alone, Yan Qiuchi was taller and stronger matching Shen Jintai quite well.

The attacker and receiver are clear!

Li Meilan felt that her suspicion could only be described as mystical. Yan Qiuchi has fallen in love with Shen Jintai?

She must be thinking too much. His mood is too difficult to assess. Just from his expression, it’s almost impossible to clearly tell Yan Qiuchi’s satisfaction.

—

It wasn’t entirely correct to say that Yan Qiuchi’s heart was satisfied as he was walking with Shen Jintai along the cool shade. His heart felt like it was overflowing. Despite his heart filling full, it wasn’t completely satisfied as it still held turbulent and uneasy feelings.

The details that he would normally not pay attention to in the past were infinitely magnified, such as the faint fragrance on Shen Jintai’s body. Shen Jintai gave people a clean feeling from the inside out. When he smelled it, his heart itch. He used to be such a workaholic who likes to work overtime, but now he’s rushing home just because Shen Jintai was there. But he wouldn’t be there all the time. He’ll leave in a few days.

“Ah,” Mrs. Yan said when she saw him: “You’re back so early today?”

“Nn,” Yan Qiuchi said calmly: “The company hasn’t been too busy recently.” He gave Shen Jintai another look, then went upstairs.

He contemplated on why he got out of the car to walk with Shen Jintai. It was because he wanted to spend every minute with him. When the two of them are together, there was actually nothing to say. What he wanted to say, he couldn’t, and what he could say, he didn’t know how.

He thought about these things in his heart as he went back to his room. He stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window and watch Shen Jintai and his mother fiddling with the flowers in the courtyard. One hand was in his trouser pockets while the other was unconsciously pinching his lower lip from time to time as he stared at Shen Jintai.

—

Shen Jintai went to participate in his promotional event shortly after. He traveled almost all over the southwest and northern area for a week. Everywhere he went was a sea of gold.

He now has his own station sisters*, his fans have a clear division of labor and his Meitu* will not lose anyone. After gaining momentum, his fame and prestige had increased dramatically. The brands he endorses and the magazines he’s featured in have all set amazing sales records. His limelight was unparalleled.

*Station sister* (站姐) = also referred to as goddess cannons. They are fans who use high-end cameras to shoot idols. They also help with fan club organization and events.
*Reminder: Meitu = photo editing and sharing software.

Just before he was about to enter the crew, <Pilot> was officially announced.

“The follow-up resources for Touhua have finally come out, and it’s a big pie of the year again! Thank you.”

“This film should be a hit at the box office. First-line actors with top traffic, big directors and producers, and it will be released next summer.”

“The second round is the real achievement. The team has a good vision and I look forward to Touhua’s first big screen debut!”

“It’s hard to imagine him acting as a soldier. In my heart, he has always been the feminine and gorgeous Li Xu.”

“I can’t imagine it either, but it’s this contrast that makes me look forward to it even more!”

The black powder Xiao Qi immediately went into battle: “Don’t accept a pilot like an eunuch. Please don’t insult this profession.”

Recently Xiao Qi didn’t expect much help from people to blacken Shen Jintai. It wasn’t possible. The role of Li Xu was too popular and couple with his loss at the award ceremony, the public was full of sympathy for Shen Jintai. Even his terrible reputation had been counterattacked and no new black spots could be found so she couldn’t afford to make waves.

She changed her strategy and deliberately made some remarks to make gold powder scold her. Starting a scolding war could disgust passersby from the sidelines, who may think gold powders were too cruel.

She was waiting for gold powders to come and scold her, but when she refreshed it, the comments of passersby had already overwhelmed her comments. It was impossible to attack Shen Jintai. His popularity was too high now.

Xiao Qi pulled her hair depressingly.

The gold powders were growing day by day, and the fan base is getting bigger. The fans are young, so their love and hate were simple and strong. Generally, tops stars and their fans were bursting with combat power that you can easily tell who could tear who. When a top star has just risen, there will be a wave of black history and even black parts during their amateur period would accompany to ridicule them. Fans love their idol so naturally they can’t bear it.

But Shen Jintai was an exception. He had already been stripped thoroughly before and his black history was well known to everyone, thus his reputation couldn’t be lowered. Pair this with the abuse of fans at Li Xu’s finale and the award ceremony was a recipe for harmony that blackspots had no opportunity to arise.

This wasn’t a climate for black powder and there was no negative news. Even if the gold powders have explosive combat power, they have nowhere to show it. It seems that the years would be quiet and peaceful, filled with singing and dancing.

Passersby were bursting with affection: “This should be the most qualified fanbase of a top idol. I feel that the gold powders are all cute!”

Of course, the gold powders were happy to see this kind of comment. Anyone who wanted to scold their brother will surely be unhappy.

It’s all because of their brother who is fighting and giving them energy. He’s unstoppable and now he’s so hot that it could be easily seen by the naked eye, and their brother will continue to get hotter in the future. Being a powder to such a brother is simply physically and mentally comforting!

Brother, fly bravely and gold powder will always follow!

—

Shen Jintai returned to the Yan’s manor before entering the crew. This time he bought gifts for everyone.

Invest in peaches, repay them in plums*. The Yan family have always treated him well so it’s only natural he had to repay them. Mrs. Yan wasn’t soft on giving him gifts, so he was very generous in his gifts to her. He gave her a set of high-luxury jewelry.

*Invest in peaches, repay them in plums (投之以桃報之以李) = idiom meaning the values of peaches and plums are equivalent so it’s reasonable to pay them back in such manner. Basically, equivalent exchange when gifting someone back for their gift.

Mrs. Yan cried with joy. After putting it on, she showed it off everywhere. She even recorded herself with them on to brag to Yan Yaoxuan and Yan Tiefang. After Yan Qiuchi got off work, she wore it to flaunt in front of him: “How is it? Does it look good? It’s from Xiao Jin.”

From a glance, it was obvious that the set of jewelry was incredibly expensive. It shone brightly under the light.

Yan Qiuchi: “It looks good.”

Shen Jintai said: “I also bought you a gift.”

Yan Qiuchi’s heart pounded. He faintly said “Nn”.

Shen Jintai laughed: “I ask the maid to put it in your room.”

“Thank you.” Yan Qiuchi said as he gave Shen Jintai a momentary glance. His lips slightly curled.

Shen Jintai: “You’re welcome. I picked it myself. I hope you like it.”

Yan Qiuchi slowly went upstairs. As soon as he entered his room, he saw a box on the table. He opened the gift slowly, layer by layer, and finally saw a watch. It had a black plate and white needle, which was the opposite color of what he gave to Shen Jintai.

The author has something to say:

Well now, this is a real couple’s watch.

Kinky Thoughts: Reading one of the comments on jjwxc really resonate my mood about this novel so far: “Although I really want Shen Jintai to attack, I just think it’s a pity that Xiao Jin is so good and won’t have a worthy gong to match him!”

All I can say is… in the gay real world… too many bottoms and not enough tops.