Day: September 12, 2021

Chapter 22

       Wen Jianing’s singing was full of emotion. His singing and emotions were exactly the same as his past performance in the movies. The difference was only in his voice.

       The live camera cut to a female audience in the stands. She was already in tears halfway through listening. They were not sure if she was actually a fan of Wen Jianing.

       Xu Rujing whispered in Lu Jinlang’s ear, “If this boy finds a way to develop well, he will have a bright future.”

       Lu Jinlang didn’t say anything. He held a signing pen in his hand and gently pressed it against his lips.

       When Wen Jianing finished singing, the response in the studio was very enthusiastic, but even so, he still failed to win the game. Of course, he felt it didn’t matter.

       When it was finally announced that Yi Nan was the champion, he couldn’t feel so excited. He even faked his excitement because he at least couldn’t make himself look depressed in front of the camera.

       Wen Jianing was the first runner up and Wen Lin was the second runner up. Both of them were not surprised by the result and waved to the audience with a smile.

       The atmosphere now was very warm, with cold fireworks* and balloon ribbons, but the three winner’s mood was too calm, they were relying on the excited roar of the host.

       The game lasted for nearly two months. Since Wen Jianing accidentally heard the inside story of who was the champion by default, he continued with the mentality of showing all the things he wanted to show. Now surprisingly, he was a runner up, which was beyond his expectation. He felt very satisfied.

       After the competition, the dressing room in the backstage area was very lively. All the eliminated players came back. Those who had a good relationship gathered in one place to talk, and others were congratulating Yi Nan.

       The producer of the show walked in, clapped his hands and said, “Everyone has worked so hard for so long. Let’s have dinner together tonight to celebrate.”

       Everyone responded enthusiastically.

       Wen Jianing found that Lu Jinlang had called him. After the call got through, he couldn’t hear what Lu Jinlang was saying because the surrounding environment was too noisy. He shouted to Lu Jinlang, “I’m off to dinner! Talk to you later!” and then hung up the phone.

       That night was very lively, and everyone temporarily let go of any past grievances, and even Yi Nan came over with a wine glass to have a drink with Wen Jianing.

       Later, when he returned to the small house rented by Ke Xinhang, Wen Jianing fell onto the bed and slept until dawn, without even having a dream.

       After he got up in the morning, he went to the bathroom to take a bath. After taking a bath, he stood in front of the mirror without clothes.

       He had never tried this before. He knew that the body was incomplete, but looking at it from that angle with his head down was nowhere near as strong as the visual impact of standing in front of a mirror and looking at a whole body.

       His body was tall and thin, with no obvious muscles, and without a trace of fat. A deformed body was absolutely ugly from the perspective of normal people, but his body should not be called ugly, because he almost had no hair, the skin was fair, and the shape was not that bad either.

       This was probably what Lu Jinlang saw from his perspective.

       In the mirror, Ke Xinhang’s face was very beautiful. His cheeks were ruddy because he had just taken a bath. The fog in the bathroom had not dispersed, and the oxygen was a little thin. He opened his lips slightly and was slightly breathless.

       Wen Jianing suddenly discovered that if he had seen such a beautiful young man in the past, he would probably found him very attractive. It was no wonder that Lu Jinlang had been attracted to him from the beginning.

       He put on his clothes. Wen Jianing tidied himself up and went out to take a taxi to the company.

       He was now a contracted artist of Lei Xing, and he wasn’t famous yet to have an agent attending to his needs. He needed to make himself look more diligent.

       Since he tactfully refused the request to post to Weibo to show his closeness with Yi Nan last time, He Chaoshu and the others didn’t push him to get along anymore.

       He Chaoshu’s emotions towards Wen Jianing were somewhat complicated. Wen Jianing himself had found that He Chaoshu was probably worried about his relationship with Lu Jinlang. However, the two of them never made their relationship clear, so He Chaoshu didn’t know what attitude he should show in front of Wen Jianing.

       But it was true that he was a lot more polite.

       When Wen Jianing went back today, he was going to ask again about the combination of Wen Lin and him mentioned by the company before. However, as soon as he arrived at the company, He Chaoshu hurriedly met him and said that he had an audition to prepare and to set out immediately.

       Wen Jianing was taken aback. He saw He Chaoshu was very anxious, so he didn’t ask any questions until he was sitting in the car, he asked, “Which movie?”

       He Chaoshu said, “October Fireworks.”

       Wen Jianing was a little surprised, and subconsciously asked, “The male lead?”

       He Chaoshu gave him a dumbfounded look and said, “How is that possible? It’s just a small character, no need to be too nervous.”

       In fact, when he asked, Wen Jianing knew that he had asked a silly thing. Lu Jinlang clearly said that they would start filming soon. How could he really give him the opportunity at this time.

       However, even if it was just a chance to play a small role, Wen Jianing felt very happy.

       He Chaoshu said, “Although it’s a little sudden, it’s not easy to have this opportunity. You have to know that the director of October Fireworks is Fang Wei, who is notoriously picky. You should perform well when the time comes.”

       Wen Jianing was no longer thinking about the audition. Instead, he took out his mobile phone and found Lu Jinlang’s number in the address book. He put his finger on the call button and hesitated, but he finally didn’t dial out. He held his phone and turned it in a circle a few times, and placed it back into his pocket.

       The audition was arranged at an entertainment company, which also served as the agency that did the cast for ‘October Fireworks’.

       After He Chaoshu took Wen Jianing into the audition room, he met Fang Wei’s old partner Li Jiazhen. Li Jiazhen had always been Fang Wei’s assistant, serving as the assistant director in many of Fang Wei’s movies, and was very familiar with Fang Wei’s style and character.

       In addition to Li Jiazhen, there were also several crew members that Wen Jianing was not very familiar with.

       He Chaoshu obviously knew Li Jiazhen. He approached Li Jiazhen with a smile on his face and introduced Wen Jianing to the other party.

       Li Jiazhen looked at Wen Jianing. As soon as he wanted to speak, Director Fang opened the door and came in. He sat down in a nearby chair and said plainly, “Let’s get started.”

       He Chaoshu didn’t dare to speak at once.

       Wen Jianing didn’t expect Fang Wei to appear in person, but he knew that Fang Wei had an almost morbid obsession with his film works. It was not very strange for him to appear here.

       Li Jiazhen asked Wen Jianing to give the script to Wen Jianing and was about to point him out for the role he was auditioning for, but Fang Wei suddenly said, “No need for a script, you try to play an introverted and silent high school student confessing his love to a girl he likes.”

       There was no script, no lines, and no one to act with him.

       He Chaoshu felt that Fang Wei probably didn’t like Wen Jianing. He couldn’t help being nervous and secretly turned his head to see Fang Wei’s face.

       Unfortunately for them, Wen Jianing had read the script of ‘October Fireworks’. Fang Wei said it so casually that he immediately knew which role he was auditioning for. It was the boy who was in the same class as the heroine who was immersed in studying. Because he had a crush on the heroine, he mustered up the courage to confess to her but was rejected by the heroine on the grounds that she wanted to study hard for the college entrance examination.

       It was indeed a small role, but it was not an insignificant role.

       In the script, this confession was made after the evening self-study. The boy asked the heroine to wait for him to go home together. He said it nervously as they walked. At this time, Wen Jianing did not intend to be affected by the script, nor did he want Fang Wei to know that he had read the script, and he wanted to express it in another way.

       So Wen Jianing stood in place, straightened his body, raised one hand, clenched his fist next to his shoulder, and his fingers kept moving, looking restless.

       Fang Wei originally leaned on the back of the chair, tilted one leg up and watched him expressionlessly. At this time, he sat up slightly and took a closer look, because he could see that this action was an act of a student unconsciously grasping the strap of a school bag.

       Wen Jianing began to constantly look sideways, then shrunk back and stood in place with his head leaning back.

       Everyone could see that he was leaning against a wall. From time to time, he looked from the corner of the wall, as if he was waiting for someone. He then saw someone from far, opened his mouth and wanted to shout. Before he shouted, he stopped and retracted his head because it was not the person he had been waiting for.

       He appeared introverted and timid.

       Then the person he had been waiting for finally appeared. He still suppressed his voice and shouted, “Xiao Ting!” He made up the heroine’s name casually. He called her name twice before the other party seemed to hear her.

       He leaned over, and after hearing the other person’s question, he said, “I have something to tell you.”

       The non-existent heroine expressed her hesitation.

       His gaze swept across the other party’s face from time to time, but he didn’t dare to stare for a long time. He lowered his head and asked in a very soft voice, “Which school entrance examination are you going to take?”

       ………

       “Oh” he said, “I want to try too. Shall we take the same school?”

       ………

       He tried to take a deep breath, and then his face turned red, and the look of helplessness made the people around him feel embarrassed for him. He said, “I like you. When we graduate from high school, shall we be together?”

       At this time, he would have been rejected by the heroine, but Fang Wei didn’t tell him how to develop after confession, so he imagined a scene in which he was vaguely accepted by the other party.

       He suddenly raised his head, his eyes gleamed, and he was still a little at a loss, but his joy prevailed. He said, “I will also be admitted to the school, as long as you like it, I can do anything!”

       Fang Wei interrupted him, “The other party rejected you. Continue from there just now.”

       Wen Jianing immediately changed his joyful expression. He stared at the non-existent person in front of him with wide eyes, not surprised but embarrassed. In just a short moment, he withdrew his gaze and began to say incoherently, “Oh, I also think so, I get it. I’m sorry I was in a bit of a hurry. I will wait until after the entrance exams are over, okay okay.”

       The other party seems to have said something.

       He raised his hand to look at his watch, “I have to go back. My mother will rush me, you should go back early too.”

       With that, he turned and ran and stopped in the corner of the room.

       Li Jiazhen sat up straight and said nothing. Because Fang Wei didn’t say anything, he looked at Fang Wei and asked, “Director Fang?”

       Fang Wei lowered his head and glanced at the script, then at Wen Jianing, and finally said, “Wait for the result.”

       He Chaoshu then stood up quickly, thanked Fang Wei and Li Jiazhen, and called Wen Jianing to leave.


The author has something to say:
I wish everyone a happy Mid-Autumn Festival!


*Cold fireworks looks like this

Notes: Coincidentally this year(2021) Mid-Autumn Festival is on 21st of September, kek

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Chapter 21

       After they ate, Lu Jinlang let Wen Jianing go to bed early. The room prepared for him was still the same room, and it was even more comfortable. Lu Jinlang came in and helped him change a thicker quilt, saying that it was a bit colder today.

       Then Lu Jinlang opened the door and was about to leave. Before leaving, he asked Wen Jianing, “Don’t you have anything to say?”

       Wen Jianing was already sitting by the bed. When he heard those words, he got up and ran to Lu Jinlang in two steps. He held Lu Jinlang’s face and kissed him hard. After the kiss, he said, “Good night.”

       Lu Jinlang smiled and said goodnight, and then helped him close the door.

       Wen Jianing originally wanted to lock the door in reflex, but suddenly thought that he had nothing to guard against, so he withdrew his hand. He felt relieved that Lu Jinlang found out about it.

       Lu Jinlang wanted to wait until he compromised. He knew very well in his heart that at this point, Lu Jinlang had begun to suspect that Wen Jianing would compromise sooner or later. However, he would never force himself to make a decision.

       The next day, Wen Jianing went to the TV station for rehearsal. Wen Jianing asked the director to change a song in the final.

       The director was upset on the spot after hearing it, and said that it was already this time, and suddenly changing the song? How many days were left to prepare and if he had considered the effect on the site?

       Wen Jianing apologized very sincerely, but he insisted on changing the song. He decided to sing a movie theme song that he once sang, called ‘Glistening’. No one knew why, only he himself understands. He was lying in bed last night and he couldn’t fall asleep for a long time. Wen Jianing’s sudden death was nothing but a pity for others, but it was a lifetime regret and pain for him. Last night’s film awakened many of his memories, and he suddenly wanted to do something to pay homage to himself.

       The song ‘Glistening’ was personally sung by Wen Jianing himself at the request of the director at that time. It was not only the theme song of the film, but also the background music in the movie. Although Wen Jianing’s singing skills were not very good, he created a very moving atmosphere in that scene with his own dubbing lines.

       It was unfortunate that today’s Wen Jianing wanted to sing this song again, but few people agree. The reason was that Ke Xinhang’s voice type was very different from Wen Jianing. If he wanted to achieve good results, it would not just be changing the tune. He might need to rearrange the whole music. This was either impossible or it would require a lot of effort.

       Wen Jianing told the director that he could find someone to make the rearrangement by himself, without the TV station’s music team.

       The director group said they would discuss and give him an answer later.

       When he went back to the waiting room, Yi Nan and Wen Lin were both there.

       Wen Lin naturally knew about the dispute between Wen Jianing and Yi Nan yesterday. He waved to Wen Jianing and motioned Wen Jianing to sit next to him.

       Wen Jianing sat down and asked him how his preparations were going.

       “It’s okay,” Wen Lin always has confidence in his music and if you talk about music with him, he will tell you: I think it’s very good.

       Yi Nan was originally wearing headphones and sitting nearby listening to music. At this time, he suddenly pulled his headphones, stood up, walked to Wen Jianing and said, “Can you come out for a while? I have something to tell you.”

       Wen Lin quickly stood up and stood between the two. The makeup artist and dresser in the dressing room also came over nervously.

       Wen Jianing stood up and patted Wen Lin on the shoulder to signal that it was okay, and then said to Yi Nan, “Find a quiet place.”

       Today’s Wen Jianing had lost yesterday’s irritability. He had calmed down. Perhaps it was because yesterday’s movie reminded him of his goal. He told himself that even if the people around him could not help his career, he shouldn’t easily provoke them and made them into his own enemies.

       The two people found an empty and quiet lounge.

       Yi Nan had also calmed down. He asked Wen Jianing, “Who did you hear about what you said yesterday, can you tell me?”

       Wen Jianing said, “Why is it so important who said it? The one who was helping behind your back, don’t your heart already know it?”

       Yi Nan looked down, feeling a little depressed, “I went back and asked, and they all said they didn’t know. I’m going to ask that person.”

       “It’s meaningless for you to ask that person. People who won’t admit it will still not admit it.”

       Yi Nan held his arms in front of his chest with a complex expression. He seemed angry and unwilling. He snorted, “In fact, it’s actually a completely unnecessary thing isn’t it? They don’t need the extra trouble, who do you think can beat me in this competition?”

       Wen Jianing didn’t want to pay attention to him, but seeing his arrogant attitude, he couldn’t help saying,  “What do you think? Since you think you deserve it, why bother with it?”

       “If you hadn’t relied on Lu Jinlang, could you have make it this far?” Yi Nan was a little frustrated as if Wen Jianing was the most unqualified person to accuse him.

       Wen Jianing felt it was a little funny. He said, “Yes, so we are half a cat.* I don’t look down on you. Why do you have the nerves to look down on me? Your ability to rise back again is also a part of your strength. I respect your strength.”

       After he said that, Wen Jianing stood up and walked outside. Yi Nan was a little annoyed, he stood up and wanted to pull Wen Jianing, but he stopped. After Wen Jianing went out, Yi Nan couldn’t chase him out. He was angry for a while, because he didn’t know what to say to refute him.

       After some discussion, they finally agreed to Wen Jianing’s request.

       So in the next few days, Wen Jianing spent almost every day with the TV station’s music team to discuss things about the song adaptations.

       Since the repertoire had been changed to ‘Glistening’, the program team followed suit and gave Wen Jianing some suggestions. They added a performance during his singing to commemorate the early death of the film emperor.

       Of course, Wen Jianing had no objection, so he arranged two accompanying dancers during his singing. The content of the dance was adapted from the film in which Wen Jianing starred at that time.

       He was so busy for a few days, and Wen Jianing did not have time to meet with Lu Jinlang. Lu Jinlang called him, but he directly refused, saying that he was not available. When he hung up the phone, Wen Jianing chuckled at the slowly dimming phone screen.

       The band guitarist next to him asked, “What are you so happy about?”

       Wen Jianing shook his head and put his mobile phone back into his pocket with a smile.

       The day he saw Lu Jinlang again, it was already the final live broadcast of the “Voice of the Soul” program.

       Two hours before the competition start, Wen Jianing finished the last rehearsal. He just returned to the backstage and saw Lu Yunan at the entrance of the dressing room.

       Lu Yunan said to him, “Mr. Ke, Mr. Lu invites you to his waiting room.”

       Since Lu Yunan came to invite him personally, Wen Jianing had no intention of embarrassing him. He nodded and agreed.

       When Wen Jianing arrived at Lu Jinlang’s waiting room, the makeup artist was applying makeup to Lu Jinlang. He sat on the sofa and didn’t move. but just turned his eyes to look at him and said, “You are busy, huh?”

       It was not complicated to put on makeup for Lu Jinlang. When Wen Jianing came in, the makeup artist was already finishing up. At this time, hearing that they had something to say, the makeup artists packed their things and went out first.

       With only the two of them left, Wen Jianing said, “I’m quite busy.”

       Lu Jinlang leaned on the sofa and said, “You’ve got my mind down pretty well. I can’t help but miss you after a few days of not seeing you,”

       Wen Jianing heard the words and said, “Mr. Lu is not also very good at talking about love, I almost thought you were in love with me.”

       Lu Jinlang smiled and asked him, “How’s the preparation going? Are you confident of winning the championship?”

       Wen Jianing bluntly said, “I have no confidence, the champion is not mine.”

       Lu Jinlang said, “There is still an hour and a half before the start of the competition, it is not yet clear whose the champion is, you can think about it again.”

       Wen Jianing replied, “I’ve considered it very clearly. I don’t need it.”

       Lu Jinlang seemed to feel a little regretful.

       Wen Jianing walked to Lu Jinlang and stood still, and said, “I heard that the ‘October Fireworks’ filming is going to start?”

       Lu Jinlang looked up at him, “Are you concerned about this?”

       “How is it?” Wen Jianing asked him, “Would you like to consider surrendering the male lead role to me?”

       Lu Jinlang smiled, and said to him, “It’s officially started next week, after it just over here.”

       Wen Jianing nodded and said, “That’s really a pity.”

       Lu Jinlang suddenly reached out and took his hand. His thumb gently rubbed his tiger’s mouth** and said, “Nothing to be sorry about, except for the ‘October Fireworks’, you will have many opportunities in the future.”

       Wen Jianing didn’t say anything.

       Lu Jinlang took his hand and shook it, “It may not be possible for you now to shoot except for the third grade movie and underwear commercial.”

       Wen Jianing made an angry expression and walked out without looking back.

       Lu Jinlang looked at his back and smiled.

       Wen Jianing was actually not angry for the joke he made. He only thought that the Film Emperor Lu was idle and bored so he teased him. After he left the waiting room’s door, he couldn’t help cursing him for being bored.

       There were only three contestants left in the final, and the program group had to fill in many other arrangements, such as inviting all the top 20 contestant back to the scene, an ensemble, and an interview with them cheering for the three contestants.

       Wen Jianing and the three of them opened the competition with a duet. After the duet was over, the host came out to announce the official start of the finals.

       In this game, it was not like Lu Jinlang alone could decide Wen Jianing’s ranking. But this might not be the case, perhaps Lu Jinlang has a way, but it must be done secretly. He couldn’t have the final say just by nodding his head.

       Wen Jianing didn’t want to win the championship, but him singing ‘Glistening’ still set off a small climax for the whole game. The lyrics of ‘Glistening’ were as follows: Creating myths under the glittering starlight. I am the Emperor and a superstar.It was as if it was describing the departed Wen Jianing.

       When he went on stage, he wore a white suit very similar to what he had in the movie at the time, and stood with his head down under a dim stage light. At that moment, the audience seemed to have the illusion of real Wen Jianing standing there.


The author has something to say:

Jinjiang is indeed swallowing comments recently


*Yes, so we are half a cat. means they have the same problem, so Yi Nan shouldn’t criticize him.
**Lu Jinlang is referring Wen Jianing as tiger because of his bold attitude asking for the male lead role from him.  Shoutout to xiaoming for letting me know that tiger’s mouth refers to the part between the thumb and forefinger~~

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Update 01-05-2022
So I debated to change Lei Xing to Li Xing coz it’s more correct that way but I like the previous translation usage of Lei Xing so I keep it that way. But I decided to change the song ‘Shining’ to ‘Glistening’ because it was the correct one and it doesn’t sound that bad either

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