Chapter 4: The Small-Time Star and His Short-Tempered Sugar Daddy (Part IV)
Xiao Ji was very diligent. He scoured the entire website and studied until the latter half of the night.
Unused to sleeping on a soft mattress, yet unwilling to lie on the floor, he finally chose the hard tempered-glass coffee table. Lying flat on it, accompanied by the sounds of uh-uh-ah-ah from the movie, he slept peacefully.
Just as the sky began to brighten, he received a call from his manager, Sister Cao:
“One good piece of news, one bad piece of news.”
Xiao Ji opened his eyes and sat up. “I want to hear the…”
“It’s not up to you to think,” Sister Cao interrupted him.
“Good news: An hour ago, a contraceptive company contacted me. They want you to be the spokesperson for their company. Although it’s not very glorious, the pay is very good—higher than the endorsement fees for second-tier clothing brands.”
“Bad news: President Fang didn’t come to the company yesterday. He came today, and his face was grim during the morning meeting. He didn’t say a word the whole time. Just after the meeting, he called my office and specifically asked to see you. His tone was terrible.”
“Xiao Ji, how did you provoke Fang Yinnian?”
Xiao Ji didn’t answer the question but said without thinking, “I’m not going.”
He didn’t think the good news Sister Cao mentioned was good, nor did he think the bad news was bad.
But before Xiao Ji could say the second half of his sentence, Sister Cao suddenly exploded.
“You seem to have some misunderstanding about your current situation. Xiao Ji, the policies are strict right now. I just cleared things up for you—you can’t walk the old path, and fans and audiences won’t buy the new path. You can’t get a single decent job.”
“What right do you have to be picky now? Don’t blame me for speaking harshly—if you keep being this high and mighty, you won’t even get the condom endorsement!”
Xiao Ji stood up, walking into the bathroom to wash up while calmly saying to Sister Cao:
“Then I’ll set up a stall downstairs at the company selling egg-filled pancakes.”
Sister Cao was shocked. “You’d better not tell me you’re serious.”
Xiao Ji didn’t respond to that. He simply said, “Cheng Nuo’s drama is about to wrap up. I heard he took on a variety show. I want to go too.”
Sister Cao thought Xiao Ji had gone mad. She took a deep breath:
“The variety show Film Emperor Cheng took is a dating show. With your current situation, even a matchmaking show for ordinary people wouldn’t want you, and you’re telling me you want to go on a dating show?! Xiao Ji! Please get this straight! I am your manager, not a turtle in a wishing pond!!!”
Sister Cao wasn’t a turtle in a wishing pond, but some people could be.
Xiao Ji didn’t care about the emotions of irrelevant personnel. The sheer volume of Sister Cao’s voice hurt his ears, so he hung up and added her to the blacklist.
He unhurriedly stood before the mirror cabinet to wash his face, brush his teeth, and shave.
After making himself neat and sharp, he made a sandwich using the few ingredients left in the fridge. After eating, he drove to the company.
At this moment, Fang Yinnian was standing by the window, his back to the open office door.
A black silk shirt tucked into tailored suit trousers accentuated his lean, narrow waist and the curve of his firm, perky buttocks. He held a half-burnt cigarette in his hand, lost in thought.
Xiao Ji stared at Fang Yinnian’s back from outside the door for a moment before entering, locking the door behind him. He walked up behind Fang Yinnian and wrapped his arms around his waist.
Fang Yinnian didn’t dodge. He looked down at Xiao Ji’s slender hands resting on his lower abdomen. “Who let you in?”
Xiao Ji kissed the back of his neck. “Should I go out then?”
Fang Yinnian turned around, placing a hand on Xiao Ji’s throat. “You’re tired of living.”
Xiao Ji ignored the vague threat. Even with a thumb pressing against the carotid artery on the side of his neck, he leaned in to kiss the corner of his lips:
“Did you miss me?”
Fang Yinnian had seen Xiao Ji from a distance in the past.
Back then, he only thought Xiao Ji looked good—his appearance hitting Fang Yinnian’s aesthetic sweet spot perfectly, neither too much nor too little. So, he had silently paid him a bit more attention.
But this distant observation only gave him a very one-sided understanding of Xiao Ji, and this understanding happened to miss all of Fang Yinnian’s preferred points.
Therefore, he had never planned to have further contact with Xiao Ji.
Last night was an accident. He had drunk too much, and Xiao Ji had delivered himself to the door. Thinking that meat delivered to his mouth—regardless of who sent it or for what purpose—wouldn’t kill him to taste, Fang Yinnian indulged himself and indulged Xiao Ji.
But Xiao Ji was ungrateful. After the deed was done, he didn’t even clean up the battlefield. Being told to roll and actually rolling without a second of hesitation made Fang Yinnian extremely furious. His competitive spirit was instantly baited.
Hearing Xiao Ji nonchalantly ask “Did you miss me,” Fang Yinnian wanted to strangle him right then and there.
He sneered. “I want to kill you.”
Xiao Ji was very clear about his positioning. The hands wrapped around Fang Yinnian’s waist began to cause trouble.
While lowering his head to kiss Fang Yinnian’s ear, he tried to pull out the shirt Fang Yinnian had tucked into his waistband. After failing a few times, he turned his attention to Fang Yinnian’s belt.
Fang Yinnian grabbed Xiao Ji’s wrist and pushed him away without warning:
“Let’s talk business. What is your purpose in approaching me?”
Unlike the indulgent mood when drunk, the sober Fang Yinnian carried a cold hardness that was difficult to approach.
Xiao Ji wasn’t stupid. He was just a small-time star who had a one-night stand with Fang Yinnian. He had never dealt with Fang Yinnian in the past.
At this point in time, Fang Yinnian and Cheng Nuo’s relationship was still ironclad. He would never develop a rift with Cheng Nuo just because of a few words from Xiao Ji.
He might even suspect Xiao Ji of having malicious intent and deliberately sowing discord.
So Xiao Ji simply said, “My situation right now isn’t good. I need suitable resources. You can help me.”
Sure enough, Fang Yinnian sneered upon hearing this. “You really aren’t willing to tell a single pleasant lie?”
After saying that, as if still angry, he added, “Why should I help you?”
Xiao Ji continued without changing his expression:
“Then, I love you.”
“Bullsh*t,” Fang Yinnian fumed. “Do you take me for a fool?”
He didn’t want to hear unpleasant lies, and he didn’t want to hear pleasant lies either.
Xiao Ji felt Fang Yinnian was very high-maintenance. He thought for a moment and compromised by telling part of the truth:
“If we’re just talking about resources, you aren’t my only choice. The reason I approached you is that my heart couldn’t be disobeyed. I want to walk a part of the journey with you. I can spoil you, dote on you, indulge you—Fang Yinnian, as long as you’re willing.”
I want to walk a part of the journey with you.
Fang Yinnian didn’t feel much about any of the other sentences in that string of words. He leaned back against his desk, chewing over that specific phrase repeatedly. Only then did his Adam’s apple bob as he said:
“Have you thought it through, Xiao Ji? I am not an easy person to serve.”
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