CHAPTER 2: “RETURNING” TO THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY: PERFECT ACT

Coincidentally, Su Yi Mo looked toward Ran Feng Ge at the same time. Ran Feng Ge quickly retracted his eyes, his heart accelerating to the beat of a marching band―Bang! Bang! Bang!

“Traumatized? We were in the wrong then, please don’t mind us Qiu Han! We just wanted to give you a surprise!” A young and bubbly girl with her hair in a ponytail clasped her hands together and sincerely apologized, “I’m so sorry!”

Ran Feng Ge racked his brains for information on the girl―Xia Ming, Jing Qiu Han’s assistant. She was a cheerful, although a bit clumsy girl. She liked gossiping with others, and occasionally caused problems, which were of the harmless sort most of the time.

“Xia Xia, thank you. This must have been your idea, right?” Ran Feng Ge responded, demonstrating his versatility to adapt to situations. Luckily, he had previously investigated the people around Jing Qiu Han. Even though it was a quick improvisation, he knew he had done well when he saw the wide smile on Xia Ming’s face.

“Ah! Qiu Han, as long as you’re not angry at me!” Xia Ming replied excitedly. She then glanced at the iceberg of a president beside Ran Feng Ge and added in a low whisper, “President Su, please don’t be angry…”

Su Yi Mo had been silently observing Ran Feng Ge as the body double handled the situation. He was rather impressed by Ran Feng Ge’s act; the latter was able to play his role well even when facing a stranger. Ran Feng Ge  was truly a professional.

Hearing Xia Ming’s apology, Su Yi Mo replied lightly, “No. You all can continue your party. I’m leaving first.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Su Yi Mo turned towards Ran Feng Ge and very naturally slipped an arm around the latter’s shoulders. He leaned in and placing a soft kiss on Ran Feng Ge’s lips. “Take it easy today. Wait for me tonight and we’ll go home together.”

“…Okay,” Ran Feng Ge replied, immersed in his role again. He reached out and adjusted Su Yi Mo’s tie before adding softly, “Don’t work too hard as well.”

Everyone else in the hall stared at the affectionate couple before them, enchanted by the sight.

When they finally recovered themselves, Su Yi Mo had already turned around and was walking away. One by one, they called out, “See you later, President Su!”

“Qiu Han, come in! Stop looking so reluctant, you’ll see each other again tonight!” Xia Ming pushed Ran Feng Ge into the break room, the others trailing behind them.

“Yeah, that’s right. Nowadays, is there anyone who doesn’t know how madly in love the two of you are?”

“President Su was so cool when he’d admitted to being in a relationship with you at the hospital entrance right after you had been discharged!”

“I envy you, President Su treats you so well. He even halted the filming of Bu Bu Jie Lang for you. Thanks to that, all of us were given paid leave… Hehe, it was all thanks to you!”

“Now that you are back, we can only rest for one more day. President Su had especially informed us that filming would restart tomorrow. Today’s the day when we can reorganize ourselves. We’ll be going back onsite tomorrow.”

While half-listening to the others’ conversation, Ran Feng Ge looked around the room. The first things he saw inside were the colorful balloons and streamers. Hanging at the back was a red banner with large gold letters―Welcome Back Qiu Han!

Right in the middle of the room was a huge cake, along with bottles of champagne and bowls of fruit. In the corner of the room stood a sound system, complete with a large TV and microphones. It seemed they had been preparing for karaoke.

Luckily, Ran Feng Ge had prepared himself by learning all of Jing Qiu Han’s songs. Otherwise, his secret would surely be revealed if he were dragged to the front and made to sing.

Turning back to the group, he saw the warm smiles on everyone’s faces. Ran Feng Ge didn’t know how to describe his feelings at the moment. There was envy, sadness, and touching affection all at once. He couldn’t even tell if he were feeling this way because he was acting as Jing Qiu Han or if those feelings belonged to himself.

In the end, Jing Qiu Han wasn’t someone who was hated upon or envied by others. Rather, everyone seemed to hold him close and dear.

Then that meant he had been worrying for nothing about the suspicious relationship between Jing Qiu Han and Chasing Hawk.

It wasn’t too hard to understand. Love was a strong emotion. If Jing Qiu Han had Su Yi Mo’s love, why would he bother wasting time and complying with the disciplines of his old organization? It was inevitable that he would betray his past.

Ran Feng Ge smiled and sincerely bowed to every person inside the room. “Everybody, thank you!”

“You don’t have to be so polite with us!” Xia Ming pulled him to the table. “Let’s get today’s VIP to cut the cake!”

Without further ado, Ran Feng Ge picked up the knife and divided the cake into even pieces. Someone else poured out glasses of champagne. Once he was done cutting the cake, Ran Feng Ge handed a piece to each person: Xia Ming, his bubbly assistant; Amy, his make-up artist; Lin Wei, his designer; Jenny, his stylist; and lastly, his fellow actors in Bu Bu Jie Lang, Tang Jin, Xu Nuo, Zhan Yi Fei, and Wen Xin.

“Welcome back!”

“Cheers!”

“Thank you!”

After they finished the cake and champagne, Ran Feng Ge was pushed up to the microphone.

“Qiu Han, we want to hear you sing!”

“All right, I knew I wouldn’t be able to get away this time,” replied Ran Feng Ge. He picked up the microphone and signaled Xia Ming to pull up a song on the TV screen. “To express my gratitude, I’ll sing Thankful Heart for everyone!”

“No! We want to hear Hopeless Love! The title song of your new album!”

“Yes! We want to listen to Hopeless Love!”

“Hopeless Love! Hopeless Love!”

Ran Feng Ge searched through his memory for the song called Hopeless Love, but came up blank. He cursed his bad luck and wondered if the song was in an album that had yet to be released.

“Can’t you let me keep it under wraps for a little longer? You can listen to it after I release my new album,” Ran Feng Ge said with feigned composure.

“No! You promised us last time! You said you would sing it for us after you’ve returned from Paris. You can’t break your promise!”

“Quickly, sing it!”

“I had a hard time getting the accompaniment from Aaron. Qiu Han, just grant our wish please!”

Ran Feng Ge sighed in defeat, silently reasoning to himself that since no one had ever heard the song, it should be fine if he improvised on the spot. In any case, no one would know if he were singing the right song…

As the intro of the song came on, Ran Feng Ge turned around to face the large TV. The lyrics appeared on the screen and the background image changed. Ran Feng Ge tried to use his heart to feel the beat of the accompaniment. Then, throwing all caution to the wind, he raised the microphone and began to sing.

To avoid getting distracted, Ran Feng Ge stared at the TV screen the whole time he sang. Everything around him blurred and faded into the background. By the time he finished the song and turned around to face the group, he found them staring at him with wide eyes and open jaws.

Eh… Could it be… Had he sung out of tune?

“That sounded so good!”

“Qiu Han, listening to you sing live is such an amazing feeling!”

“Here’s to wishing the album great success!”

Ran Feng Ge released the breath he was holding. He was terrified of the idea that he had sung out of tune.

“Oh right, can I ask where Yang- is?” Ran Feng Ge quickly asked Xia Ming after getting away with just one song.

Celebrities always came with managers, right? While reading up information on Jing Qiu Han, Ran Feng Ge came across someone named Yang Yang, who was Jing Qiu Han’s manager. Although everyone had gathered together to throw a party for him, the only one missing was his manager. Wasn’t that suspicious? And if he were to not show even a hint of concern for said manager, he would become suspicious as well.

“Ah! And here I thought that you had forgotten all about Yang-jie! Since you have to continue filming Bu Bu Jie Lang, Yang-jie has gone to see the director to discuss filming plans and also to bring the script back for you.”

“Oh, so that’s how it is.” Ran Feng Ge chuckled slightly. “Good thing I saved a piece of cake for Yang-jie.”

“Hehe, actually, Yang-jie did not attend the party on purpose. She’s so straight-laced that she was afraid that she wouldn’t be able to refrain from nagging at us after seeing us make so much noise. As the saying goes, out of sight, out of mind!” Xia Ming stuck out her tongue playfully.

Ran Feng Ge nodded in agreement. “That makes sense. Then I’ll cut you another piece of cake!”

“Ah, no! If I eat anymore, I am going to gain weight!”

“How can that be? Xia Xia, you’re the type that would never gain weight no matter what you eat!” Ran Feng Ge complimented.

A smile spread across Xia Ming’s face, Ran Feng Ge’s words putting her in a good mood.

Wow, and here I thought that after coming back, Qiu Han would have a hard time joking around with us like he did before. After all, he did have a near death experience! Not only is he not worrying about every little thing, he actually seems more cheerful than before.

Ah… That mesmerizing smile of his… Too bad he’s already been claimed. Who on earth would have the guts to fight President Su for his lover!

After the party ended, everyone returned to their respective offices. Ran Feng Ge remained in the break room, walking around idly. If anyone asked, he was dawdling because he had been away for so long and he missed the place. In actuality, he was carefully observing the surroundings.

Afterwards, he followed Xia Ming back to his personal office. Calling it an office would be a stretch, it was more of a private lounge for Jing Qiu Han to rest in when he was tired. Ran Feng Ge took special care in exploring the nook and crannies of the room.

After all, he was going to be spending the next ten months in here.

Making his way to the table, Ran Feng Ge picked up a photo frame. It was a picture of a vibrantly smiling Jing Qiu Han with the iceberg Su Yi Mo. Unexpectedly, the iceberg had his lips upturned in a small insincere smile.

Despite keeping himself busy looking around the room, time seemed to be crawling to a standstill. It wasn’t long before Ran Feng Ge finally gave up trying to sit still. After making an excuse to Xia Ming, he promptly left the room.

He wanted to find Su Yi Mo and ask if he could head home first as there was nothing going on. It was boring him out of his mind to have to sit around doing nothing.

The elevator rose from the twentieth floor up towards the thirtieth; however, it suddenly grated to a halt upon reaching the twenty-seventh floor. Ran Feng Ge pushed the buttons hurriedly, sliding his fingers down and pressing all the ones available to him. He then grabbed the emergency phone and yelled into it, “Hello? Hello? Can anyone hear me? The VIP elevator has broken down!”

The sound of interference pierced through the earpiece. The call wasn’t connected!

A strange feeling washed over Ran Feng Ge. The walls of the elevator were smooth, making it impossible to scale them. He could escape through the hatch at the top, but he had no way of climbing up there. Damn it, if he knew this was going to happen, he would have brought someone along with him!

Ran Feng Ge grabbed hold onto the elevator door, wondering if he could pry them open with brute strength alone. Suddenly, a noise came from the ceiling. Ran Feng Ge gazed up at the hatch―someone was trying to get in from above!

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Translators: joeypoonie
Proofreaders: Nannyn