Your Rival in Love Gets Prettier Every Day

Chapter 82: Love Business

After dinner ended, it was already dark when they came out of the restaurant. Yan Qiuchi glanced up and saw the stars twinkling in the night sky. The weather was very hot during the day, but at night there was a nice coolness.

Lu Ming rushed back to the set overnight. Shen Jintai and others escorted him to the car, then they went back to the hotel. The restaurant was less than a kilometer away from the hotel so Shen Jintai planned to walk back to help him digest his meal.

Mr. Zhang originally didn’t stay in the hotel, but he couldn’t bear the flood of spring* and said to Yan Qiuchi enthusiastically: “President Yan didn’t drive. My car will take you.”

*Flood of spring (春心泛滥) = love between two people is already very strong, like the waters in the rivers and is about to overflow.

Shen Jintai let out a “Tsk” and glanced back at Mr. Zhang. This man had no tears without seeing the coffin. His warning didn’t work.

*No tears without seeing the coffin (不见棺材不掉泪) = metaphor referring to not giving up until you fail completely.

It wasn’t that Mr. Zhang was unscrupulous. He wasn’t planning on doing anything. He just wanted to do his best to please the handsome guy in front of him.

Shen Jintai was about to speak, when he heard Yan Qiuchi say: “Then I’ll be troubling Mr. Zhang.”

Shen Jintai was shocked. He looked at Yan Qiuchi. Yan Qiuchi asked him: “Together?”

Shen Jintai declined saying: “The hotel is close by.” It wasn’t his first time coming to this restaurant. It was only a 10 minute walk from here to the hotel.

Yan Qiuchi no longer spoke and got into Mr. Zhang’s car. Mr. Zhang looked flattered, gave Shen Jintai a smile, and hurried into the car.

Xiao Tang said: “Why did President Yan get in his car? This Mr. Zhang is not very good.”

Shen Jintai didn’t know what Yan Qiuchi was going to do. However, he didn’t worry too much about Yan Qiuchi. He was a tall, strong man, so no one dared bully him. While Mr. Zhang was lustful and greasy, he was also quite cowardly and wouldn’t dare to overstep.

Xiao Tang took out a mask from his bag: “Brother Jin, do you want to wear it?”

“It’s so late, no one will recognize me.” Shen Jintai said.

The advantage of being in such a remote area was there were no star chasers. Except for when he goes out to buy things during the day, no one recognizes him usually at night. In fact, wearing a mask during Summer would make him look more conspicuous.

As the two of them walked along the sidewalk in the direction of the hotel, Xiao Tang suddenly stopped and pointed to the front and said: “Eh? Isn’t that Mr. Zhang’s car? Why did it stop there?”

Shen Jintai looked ahead and saw Mr. Zhang’s car was parked on the side not far ahead. Before they reached the car, Yan Qiuchi had gotten out. The lights of the car turned on and it drove off.

“Hey.” Shen Jintai walked up.

When Yan Qiuchi looked back and saw him, he smiled and said: “You walk pretty fast.”

Shen Jintai: “Didn’t you just get in? How come you got off so quickly? Ran into trouble?”

“That’s not possible.” Yan Qiuchi said: “I was just having a casual chat with him. He won’t dare pester you in the future.”

Shen Jintai said: “It will work since it’s coming from you.”

Yan Qiuchi: “Yes. Looks like he will understand it.”

Shen Jintai laughed: “You don’t really need to do this. Mr. Zhang is just like that. He’s lustful but a coward.”

Yan Qiuchi said: “All the more reason. He doesn’t know what to do so he gets upset when he looks at you. It just so happens that my words hold more strength so I can speak up.”

Yan Qiuchi’s words work because he has relatives who has connections in the area. When they were at dinner, Shen Jintai listened to them as they talked about this. He felt that it wasn’t the Yan family who had the most influence but rather the Fang.

As they talked by the side of the road, a familiar song came on. It was <Moths to a Flame>, the theme song for <The East Palace is Coming>. Shen Jintai turned around to look at where it was coming from. Nearby was a mutton restaurant that was broadcasting the song.

<The East Palace is Coming> was really popular. Now that the second and third rounds were being rebroadcasted the theme song, <Moths to a Flame> was about to rot.

“There’s so many small restaurants here are broadcasting The East Palace.” Xiao Tang said.

“How well do the locals recognize you?” Yan Qiuchi asked Shen Jintai.

Shen Jintai: “If I walk around like this, they will recognize me. Our crew is making a movie here, so all the people here know about it. Luckily, there are no star chasers here. They only take pictures of me when I’m walking around in broad daylight. Usually, when I come out at night, almost no one recognizes me.”

Yan Qiuchi nodded. He was still a little anxious. He wanted to find a topic to talk to Shen Jintai about, but talking face-to-face with him now, he couldn’t help but feel anxious as he’s lost for words. Suddenly, Shen Jintai’s phone rang.

Shen Jintai smiled brightly when he looked at the phone display. When he took the call, he answered: “You haven’t slept yet.” The tone was very intimate.

Yan Qiuchi frowned slightly hearing Shen Jintai’s tone.

Shen Jintai: “Still here. Where are you now?”

It was Bai Qingquan who called. The filming for <When You’re Older> starts filming in August. Bai Qingquan had vacated his schedule for the drama. Before this, he took on a variety show and participated in promotional activities. Now that <The East Palace is Coming> was massively popular, brands from near and far came looking for him. During this period, he had traveled almost all over the country and would be coming to this city.

Shen Jintai: “That’s not too far away. I’m in Huangyuan county. It takes about 40 minutes to get here from there. Come quickly.”

Bai Qingquan: “Do you have time?”

“Yes,” Shen Jintai said: “I happen to be free for the next two days, and your boss happens to be here as well.”

After Shen Jintai hung up the phone, Yan Qiuchi asked: “Whose was it?”

“Bai Qingquan.” Shen Jintai’s face was suddenly glowing: “He happened to be nearby for his promotional event, and he wanted to come and visit me.” His tone was about 8 octaves higher, obviously showing he was extremely excited.

Yan Qiuchi let out a “Nn” and thrust both hands into his pockets. His mood was subtle.

The relationship between the three of them was too complicated. In the beginning Shen Jintai and Bai Qingquan had debuted together in the talent show <Pick Me>. Shen Jintai wanted to be free, so he refused to sign with anyone. Bai Qingquan sincerely signed with Sunshine Media. Sunshine naturally wanted to support their own artists so among the newcomers, Yan Qiuchi valued Bai Qingquan the most. He saw tremendous potential in Bai Qingquan and wanted to focus on building it. As a result, Shen Jintai became annoyed and insisted there were some shady deals behind-the-scenes.

Things got much more complicated later when Shen Jintai started madly chasing him. Yan Qiuchi remained unmoved causing Shen Jintai to mistakenly believe he had liked Bai Qingquan. The group at the time hadn’t disbanded yet so Shen Jintai took the opportunity to bully Bai Qingquan. Being the boss, he couldn’t bear to see his own artist being trampled on, so he warned Shen Jintai several times. This only made Shen Jintai more convinced that his suspicions were right and the two were having an affair. Seeing as Shen Jintai couldn’t be reason with Yan Qiuchi later gave up and didn’t bother denying his accusations any longer.

All these events eventually accumulated to reach it highest peak when Shen Jintai climbed into Yan Qiuchi’s bed. He had bit and tangled with him as he shouted frantically: “Do you like that bitch Bai Qingquan? What do you like about him? He doesn’t compare to me at all!”

Yan Qiuchi had endured many things up to this point, but the act of climbing into his bed naked and biting him made him furious. He still recalled what he said at that time:

“Even in my next life, let alone touching you, I will never love you!”

“Because you can’t even match his toe!”

Shen Jintai should have forgotten these words… right? Has he… forgotten?

“Even in my next life, let alone touching you, I will never love you!” This was said in the heat of the moment.

“Because you can’t even match his toe!” This was because he lost control of his anger. He simply copied Shen Jintai’s words* as that was the only thing he could recall during that moment.

*Clarity: the words Shen Jintai said to Monsoon Entertainment on why he wouldn’t sign with them pre-transmigration.

In the end, it’s only been about a year, and he just…

Impulse is the devil*. This was truly a good saying.

*Impulse is the devil (冲动是魔鬼) = means impulsive people easily suffers.
*Clarity: basically, he’s saying he’s suffering now due to those things he said to Shen Jintai in Chapter 1 out of impulse.

An old man who was walking his dog passed by them. On his waist was a small speaker that had a voice singing:

“At the beginning, you wanted to separate,
Now that we part, you have to use true love to coax me back…”

The author has something to say：

Brewing a small shura field*.

*Reminder: shura field (修罗场) = refers to interpersonal relationships are intricate, and people present have multiple connections or unequal identities. More often used to describe a romantic relationship, such as a polyamorous relationship where many people appear on the same occasion.

Kinky Thoughts: Well, Yan Qiuchi certainly ate his words.