13: You're amazing!
The sounds of smashing and crashing echoed incessantly through the living room.
With bloodshot eyes, Chu Yilan raised his hand and throttled Shen Lian's neck.
Shen Lian wasn't as strong as him, but he was fast, landing a punch directly on Chu Yilan's shoulder.
"Fuck!" Chu Yilan kicked over a chair by his feet.
Shen Lian pushed Chu Yilan away, using the momentum to lunge forward and drive his knee toward a certain unspeakable area of Chu Yilan's body.
Chu Yilan reacted quickly to protect himself, looking up at Shen Lian in shock. "Are you for real?!"
They had been fighting for a while and smashed quite a few things, but in reality, neither side had sustained any substantial injuries.
"Why don't you just anger me to death?" Shen Lian grabbed Chu Yilan's shirt collar, looking like he wouldn't let it go. "If you don't delete Zheng Ge, I'm fucking leaving right now!"
What a novel way to threaten someone.
Chu Yilan was full of question marks. "Didn't you just delete him?"
"I mean you're not allowed to add him back ever again!"
Chu Yilan frowned. "Am I that pathetic?"
Shen Lian studied Chu Yilan seriously, as if weighing the truth of his words.
"You said it." Shen Lian's tone softened slightly.
He leaned in close, his nose brushing against Chu Yilan's, sniffing several times quickly like a small animal.
"Don't let me smell anyone else's scent," Shen Lian said, slowly lowering his head. He bit the bothersome collar and pulled it to the side.
Chu Yilan suddenly took a deep breath.
He felt Shen Lian's slightly sharp canines pressing against his neck, as if they could bite two bloody holes into him at any moment.
Baring fangs and claws, capable of being both submissive and furious—Chu Yilan had finally recognized a brand new Shen Lian.
The dark, heavy possessiveness in Shen Lian's eyes just now had startled him.
But at the same time, a seductive, exciting emotion flooded his brain, making Chu Yilan's temples throb wildly. For a moment, he even forgot to take Shen Lian to task.
Shen Lian wasn't wrong. Zheng Ge looked innocent and harmless, but he was also fickle. He always gave Chu Yilan vague promises while giving most of his affection to Zhou Tangsi.
This wasn't what Chu Yilan wanted.
This had even become the source of Chu Yilan's pain.
Chu Yilan had discovered long ago that he wasn't like normal people. Once he took an interest in something, he had to possess it absolutely.
Absolutely!
The good and the bad, all swallowed whole.
It was a morbid and obsessive emotion, but just now, Chu Yilan had actually received a response.
He saw the exact same thing in Shen Lian's eyes.
Did this mean they were of the same kind?
Like thorns spreading in the night and across the wilderness, seizing each other, wrapping around each other—even if they sank into hell, they would be together.
Chu Yilan finally felt that keeping Shen Lian by his side was starting to get interesting.
The tense atmosphere between the two gradually calmed down.
Shen Lian immediately reverted to his frail and pitiful state, collapsing half-dead onto the sofa. "Master Chu, my waist hurts..."
Chu Yilan laughed out of anger in a second. "You still know how to feel pain? You called me a coward, smashed my three-million-yuan vase with one punch, and shattered my seven-hundred-thousand-yuan flower stand with one kick. How impressive are you? You're just amazing!"
Shen Lian: "..."
Shen Lian thought Chu Yilan would settle scores with him later, but surprisingly, he managed to avoid it.
As for Shen Lian himself, he was someone who knew very well how to "be spoiled and act willfully."
During his previous ad shoot, he had kept the WeChat of the photographer, Zhao Ban.
Shen Lian asked Zhao Ban for a photo—the one where he was holding a rose in his mouth and looking at the camera. Then he printed it out, bought a frame, and finally handed it to Chu Yilan.
Chu Yilan: "What's this for?"
"Put it on your desk," Shen Lian said. "I'm much better looking than Zheng Ge. Who knows, maybe you'll be brainwashed?"
Chu Yilan: "..."
Chu Yilan wished he could smash the photo frame into Shen Lian's face.
Sensing Chu Yilan's expression was off, Shen Lian made a quick getaway.
Irritable yet helpless, Chu Yilan picked up the frame and glanced at it... then glanced again... Shen Lian didn't enter Chu Yilan's study, so he didn't know how he handled it.
Anyway, the main goal was to establish a presence.
Meanwhile, Shen Lian's name was frequently mentioned on the Social Media Platform.
His performance in the first episode of "Stars Dash Forward Boldly" was indeed calm and brilliant. A new batch of viewers were inevitably attracted to him. They edited photos, made GIFs, and talked about him. Like a natural spring, his popularity rose.
Zheng Ge's fans still cursed upon hearing the news, but they couldn't stop people from liking him.
Plus, these days, there were quite a few people with a rebellious streak.
Seeing this trend, the previous advertisers thought about it and released photos of Shen Lian in the studio.
Against a black-and-white background, the desire in the young man's eyes was restrained yet intense. That dizzying male hormone was intoxicating at a glance.
Great, this time Shen Lian's super topic finally exploded.
[Teacher Shen, I beg you, let me have a lick of your collarbone! Just one lick!]
[I followed him here! Damn it, I recognized him at a glance as my long-lost husband!]
But less than half an hour after a group of people claimed him as their husband, a large crowd of haters flooded the square.
[Hehehe, I hope you can still like him after reading about Shen Lian's dark history [Link Link Link]]
[No way? You guys really aren't picky eaters, are you?]
[I'll curse at whoever likes Shen Lian. Sigh, I'm just that unreasonable.]
[You think you're a princess? If you're being unreasonable, I don't want to be reasonable either!]
It was noisy and very lively.
Regardless of whether there was a grudge, the entertainment industry was full of people who took pleasure in others' misfortunes and didn't want to see a comeback. But where there was controversy, there were hot topics. Not to mention, what Shen Lian currently displayed was strong professional capability. Aside from bringing up old scores, the haters really didn't have much to say this time.
On Wednesday morning, the production team called Shen Lian to tell him the weather had cleared up and filming would start at twelve noon.
This time was different.
There was a nanny van for door-to-door pickup, and Xingtu Entertainment even assigned a female assistant to Shen Lian. She was in her early twenties, with a ponytail, looking like a fresh graduate.
The assistant's name was Jiang You.
"Teacher Shen can call me Youzi."
Jiang You had delicate features. She didn't dare to look up when she spoke, appearing very shy. She held a water bottle, nervously picking at the insulating sleeve.
An absolute newcomer, but Shen Lian preferred the former over those ill-intentioned old-timers.
"Okay, Youzi. Here's my little backpack, for you."
Jiang You looked delighted and quickly took it. She was still on probation; if Shen Lian didn't want her, she would likely be judged as failing when she returned to the company.
Jiang You hadn't expected the company to directly assign her as Shen Lian's assistant.
Her emotions were quite complex; she wanted to take care of Shen Lian, yet she didn't want to make things too easy for him.
Qian Gao didn't even show his face.
Shen Lian didn't care. Jiang You drove steadily, and they arrived at the filming location at 11:30 AM.
It was worth mentioning that, given the Liu Kaisheng incident and Shen Lian's "trouble-making" constitution, Chu Yilan had still given him his contact number.
Shen Lian followed the lead and added Chu Yilan on WeChat.
A pure black profile picture, which suited a certain someone's temperament.
As soon as Shen Lian entered the lounge, the chatter stopped instantly, and the atmosphere became subtle.
No one could say what kind of luck Shen Lian was having.
Positioned as a punching bag and given a script for a sacrificial lamb, he had somehow managed to carve out a sliver of hope.