Chapter 015: Stale Gossip
Ye Chiyu hadn’t lied to Wen Lang. Su Tang really had been ordered to rest at home. After a few days of being cooped up and practically growing mushrooms, the injury on his foot was just about healed.
During his recovery, “Mr. Ye” came to the house to see him every day. And more than once, much to Su Tang’s surprise, he watched him chat naturally with Su Bingru, who was also home, as if they were old friends who had known each other for years.
After just a few days, Su Tang was starting to think Mr. Ye might actually be some kind of god. It was one thing that all the gifts he brought were things Su Tang loved, but even his lao jie—who was notoriously hard to please—had a great attitude toward him.
Su Tang lounged on the sofa, looking at the text notification that his acting pay had been deposited. He silently calculated the cut his company took and felt a sharp, physical pang of financial pain.
Sigh. It really wasn’t easy trying to earn a little money to get by.
His alpha hadn’t arrived yet. After getting a message from Ye Chiyu saying he’d be over later, Su Tang went to the kitchen and fumbled around, throwing together a bowl of noodles for lunch. While slurping his noodles, he scrolled through the official Weibo account for the Shi Xue cast, looking at the wrap photos they had just posted.
As expected of a major production starring a “Movie Emperor,” the post had been up for less than two minutes and already had over ten thousand comments.
Thinking about it, Su Tang still felt that getting into the Shi Xue cast had been an incredible stroke of luck. For a small, unknown actor like himself to land a role with a decent amount of screen time in such a major production… it felt like a pie had fallen from heaven.
He had only submitted his resume on a whim, just to try, with zero expectations. When he actually got the call inviting him to audition, he was stunned for a good while, unable to believe it was real.
And actually landing the role was completely beyond his expectations. After all, several others at the audition were already new-generation actors with a bit of fame. Even Su Tang couldn’t believe the director would actually cast him, a virtual nobody.
One of the stills posted was a group photo of him with his martial brothers. It was the only one he was in. Su Tang happily clicked to open the original image.
Because his character had a decent amount of screen time compared to the other “brothers,” he had been placed next to Xie Xingzhi for the photo.
Even though he was nearly 1.8 meters tall, standing next to the over-1.9-meter Xie Xingzhi, he looked like a short, stubby melon. To make it worse, he was grinning like an idiot at the camera, flashing a “V” sign.
“God, I look so… dumb in this photo!”
Su Tang covered his face in regret. He scrolled through the comments for ages and, sure enough, found a few scattered mentions of himself.
[srds, but the actor next to Xie Xingzhi really smiling like the landlord’s dopey son /doge]
[Everyone else in pic 6 is playing it cool, and then there’s this one kid grinning like a fool hahaha]
[Am I the only one who thinks the cutie next to Xie Xingzhi is adorable? Kinda smitten /drool]
[Does anyone know the Weibo for the handsome guy on Xie Xingzhi’s right? I need to switch biases!]
After surfing the comments for ages, Su Tang still wanted more. He logged into his main account and discovered that thanks to the official post, he had gained almost a thousand new followers. Thrilled, he quickly re-blogged the official post.
After a moment’s thought, he also posted a picture of himself on set, petting a staff member’s cat. He immediately got a few fan comments, all of them sweet, supportive interactions. Su Tang read through them and carefully replied to each one.
The show didn’t have a release date yet, but Su Tang was already excited to see himself on TV. He had scenes in several episodes this time, and there had been a few takes during filming that he was personally very happy with. He wondered how the post-production team would make it all look.
A message from Mr. Ye popped up, and Su Tang quickly opened it.
【Have you eaten?】
Looking at the bowl of noodles he had pretty much demolished, Su Tang snapped a picture and sent it to the alpha.
【All full】 he typed, adding a cat emoji patting its burping belly.
Ye Chiyu, who was in the middle of examining something Wen Lang had sent over, lifted a hand and poked the little cat’s belly on his screen.
【Take a nap. I’ll come by later. I’m taking you somewhere.】
Su Tang didn’t dare ask where. He just obediently sent back a “roger that” emoji.
Speaking of which, he and Mr. Ye were already legally married, but he still hadn’t told Ning Yang. He’d been agonizing over it for several days, just unable to find the right moment to bring it up.
Besides, it didn’t even feel real to him yet. He and Mr. Ye were still just getting to know each other. Mr. Ye was always so restrained and proper around him. Su Tang felt his alpha was a perfect example of social etiquette, treating him with a “textbook” sort of kindness.
He was right in the middle of this internal debate when Ning Yang’s name flashed on his screen. The call startled him so much he furtively glanced around his living room.
What the hell? Did Ning Yang plant a bug in his house or something?
“Hey, Yangyang, what’s up?”
“Tangtang, you won’t believe this, I just ran into a total pervert! I was out scouting locations and saw this really handsome alpha, and the lighting was perfect, so I snapped a picture. But then the guy had the nerve to call me ‘xiao caomei’ and shamelessly shoved his business card at me! I’m so pissed off!”
“Tsk, that’s seriously shameless,” Su Tang agreed, but then he got worried. “But… he didn’t do anything to you, did he?”
After all, Ning Yang was an omega without an alpha. It would be terrible if some alpha with bad intentions tried to use pheromones to trigger his heat.
“No! If he’d dared lay a hand on me, I would’ve beaten him to a pulp,” Ning Yang huffed, still furious. “A total waste of a handsome face. Just a disgusting, lecherous pervert!”
After presenting as an omega, he had started going to the gym every day to protect himself. Later, he even learned combat fighting and Taekwondo from Su Bing. His combat stats were maxed out. That tall, skinny alpha today, who looked like he didn’t even work out? Ning Yang could take ten of him at once.
“Haha, that’s right! My Yang-ge is a total badass! All ripped muscles under that shirt!” Su Tang cackled into his phone. His mind suddenly turned, and he decided to strike while the iron was hot. “Hey, Yangyang… speaking of, can I tell you something?”
Puffed up with pride from the compliment, Ning Yang was in a pretty good mood. “Yeah? What is it?”
“Well, you see… um… I’m with an alpha now.”
“Huh?!” A dozen question marks seemed to pop up over Ning Yang’s head. His eyes went wide. “Wait, what? Since when? Su Tang, you went and got a man behind my back?!”
“It just happened a few days ago. It’s a little complicated,” Su Tang said with a nervous little laugh. “Actually, ‘got together’ isn’t really the right way to put it.”
Ning Yang instantly relaxed. “Oh, so you’re not actually together. Thank god. I was about to say, there’s no way a total dope like you could…”
“Yangyang, we already registered our marriage,” Su Tang dropped, like a bomb.
“WHAT?! Cough, cough, cough!” Ning Yang choked on a sip of water. A million “holy shits” flashed through his brain. “Su Tang, you’re pretty wild, aren’t you! Who is he?! Who could possibly get you—a rock that hasn’t bloomed in ten thousand years—to just suddenly elope?!”
“Aiya, it’s a long story! Treat me to dinner tomorrow, and I’ll tell you everything.”
Ning Yang, who had just been hit with this bombshell of stale gossip, immediately agreed. “You’re damn right you’ll tell me everything!”
And with that, Su Tang hung up.
A few seconds passed before Ning Yang finally swore.
“Wait a second… That damn Su Tang! He’s got some nerve! He’s making me treat him?!”
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