Referring to - 36

Chapter 36

It was unclear if it was ‘cultural inheritance’ or what, but the entertainment circle had always been the most feng shui-concerned and superstitious place. Even in the filming of a formal anti-corruption drama, they still had to burn tall incense sticks for the opening ceremony.

So even if Chen Yunyun gave up treatment again, she also didn't dare to really use ‘inverse koi’ to cause troubles. Instead, in her last struggle, she used ‘Lin Zixi eats chicken backwards’ to put young actor Lin on the hot search and marketing accounts.

As a result, whether it was the anti-fans who were following Lin Zixi to vilify him or the masses who were purely eating melons, they were all madly inundated by his various ways of dying in the game for the next three days.

Since in this game, after a game character died, his equipment and supplies could be picked up by others, so throwing away one’s life in this game was ridiculed as ‘sending express delivery’.

A supernatural being like Lin Zixi, who could not win even under the escort of three game anchors, obtained the title of ‘Lin Express Delivery’ in just one day—unexpectedly, this name still originated and spread from his own fans. His fans had been worried and also missing him for two months, so when they found out that their idol was recovering well and could even play games with the game anchors, they certainly couldn’t make any troubles!

Under the blessing of the popularity of the game itself, and coupled with the joint efforts of the marketing accounts and fans, "Lin Shi Express Delivery, the mission must be accomplished" actually became the most popular meme and even gave rise to a series of emoticons for quite a while. After winning this game, screenshots were sent to Lin Zixi's Weibo comments, which also became the most favorite ‘sharing’ activity among netizens.

Chen Yunyun originally wanted to follow Lin Zixi's previous character design and label him a gaming expert, but this supernatural teammate was really so incompetent that he was beyond help. In the end, she could only grit her teeth and changed the design to a sand sculpture style. Who knew that the final result was surprisingly good. Not only had the sense of existence been brushed up, even the comments on Lin Zixi in the male forums, which always looked down on idols and young actors, had also improved.

However, after using the game to brush up the sense of existence and solidify the fans, Lin Zixi did not publicly play with the anchors anymore. This was not because the parent was too strict—Dad Gu (according to the anti-addiction system of XX games) agreed that he could play games for no more than five hours a day—but... there were only a hundred players in a game, and there were sixty or seventy people chasing to kill you; if it were you, did you still want to play?!

Whether you want to or not, after encountering a few rounds of siege and interception, young actor Lin really didn't want to experience it again.

He had better continue to play on his own.

Lin Zixi had always been reluctant to be a burden on others because of his Mercury retrograde attribute, so he usually played all kinds of games as single-player games. However, after experiencing the feeling of interacting with his teammates in the past two days, he actually began to feel a little lonely and bored playing solo.

FYI, when people were addicted, it was easy to do irrational things.

For example, now, after young actor Lin ate the last bite of brown rice in the bowl, he impulsively sent out an invitation to form a group to his dad, "By the way...if you don't have any work planned tonight, do you want to play games with me?"

In fact, Lin Zixi regretted it immediately after asking.

Unexpectedly, before he could withdraw the invitation, the man sitting across the dining table actually nodded.

"I can give it a try."—Big Boss Gu was thinking of meeting this ‘temptress’ that had attracted a certain someone to neglect him for three days.

So, when Gu Zecheng finished washing the dishes after dinner, Lin Zixi connected the large computer screen in the study to his own laptop and logged in to the game.

Dad Gu had been standing silently behind Lin Zixi and watching him play while explaining the gameplay of the game. After Lin Zixi lost for six consecutive times, he suddenly opened his mouth, "You played this game so poorly. No wonder you couldn’t win even after Chen Yunyun found you some helpers."

"I, I have Mercury retrograde! My luck’s bad!" Lin Zixi tried hard to recover his honor. "Also, I didn't even wear my headphones in order to demonstrate the game to you. I usually can hear the enemy coming and guess their direction if I wear headphones, and I’ll play a lot better."

He said this, but Gu Zecheng was a little surprised, "So you didn’t see where those people were?"

"It’s normal. E-sports doesn’t require good eyesight." Lin Zixi said and joined another new round of the game.

"Just now, the player was behind the second tree on the hillside in the N direction. Before that, there were two players, one was in the underbrush, and the other was on the second floor of the small building in the SW direction..." Dad Gu, seeing Lin Zixi abruptly twist around to look at himself, looked calm and indifferent, "I thought it’s you who failed to react. As it turned out, your eyes were open but sightless. Also, the terrain was so clear, you should’ve been able to guess where people were even if you didn't see them."

Damn, what kind of dynamic vision and judgment this was!     

Young actor Lin looked at his dad as if he saw a rising e-sports star. He immediately went around the seat and grasped the other party's hand, smiling flatteringly, "Daddy, please take me to fly!"

Thus, the gold master daddy really turned on the computer and downloaded the game platform and a few GB of the game itself into his empty, except for the work files, hard disk. After more than an hour of tossing, they started their two-players journey.

After Gu Zecheng entered the game and played a few rounds to get familiar with the firearms and the feel of them, Lin Zixi really realized what ‘Daddy takes you to fly’ was—his dad not only had extraordinary vision, accurate marksmanship, excellent reaction, and agile movement, he could actually remember roughly how many people had parachuted from each location at the beginning of the game and thus predict from which direction the enemies might appear.

Lin Zixi had no doubt that if Gu Zecheng was only eighteen or nineteen now, he would definitely be able to appear in the professional arena in the future.

However, even the gold thigh daddy, who was flying like this, still couldn't bring his son to ‘eat chicken tonight’.

The best result they achieved was second place.

The situation at that time was like this—

AWM plus 8x scope, the best equipment to have in hand. Nice!

There's only one person on the ranks other than them. Nice!

A safe zone actually spawned on their side. Nice!

Dad Gu had already discovered the enemy's hiding place. Nice!

Everything was basically ready. They only needed the poison circle to be refreshed and the enemy to run poison to avoid the poison gas and get killed….

Then, the other party put down his butcher’s knife and became a Buddha on the spot, and he also proved his immortal status with the invulnerable ‘blood lock technique’, settled the two mortals smoothly, and won the first place.

And after that, Gu Zecheng and Lin Zixi, this father and son/brothers duo, would accidentally encounter several cheating great immortals in almost every game, from escaping by flying to the sky to traveling thousands of miles in an instant to Guanyin with a thousand arms…. There were even two teams of cheating great immortals in one game fighting with each other, vividly interpreting a shooting game into a modern day cultivation live action.

So, after another headshot from a thousand miles away, Big Boss Gu turned off the computer angrily, "What kind of broken game is this? The operator doesn't care about plug-ins at all?!"

“They actually care about it.” Lin Zixi hurriedly offered his gold master as well as gold thigh daddy tea to calm him down, "But the devil is stronger. Nowadays, no matter which game it is, there’re a bunch of plug-ins..."

Moreover, when he was playing solo and with the anchors, he had never run into immortals so often….

Could you blame the official for the double bonus of hereditary Mercury retrograde?!

TL’s notes:

Sorry for the late chapter, I had no energy to post last night. I've been in a bad mood recently, and I couldn't concentrate when translating. So, for the next two weeks, I'll only post a chapter/week. Next chapter will be posted on September 1, 2022.

立地成佛 (lì dì chéng fó) = to become a Buddha on the spot (idiom); instant rehabilitation; to repent and be absolved of one's crimes

锁血 (suǒ xuè) = blood lock, refers to using modifiers or plug-ins to lock the health value at a fixed value, you’ll neither lose blood nor increase blood, so that in the game, when others hit or shoot you, you will not be affected

开挂 (kāi guà) = cheating, using plug-ins to cheat when playing games

Previous | Next

Referring to - 35

Chapter 35

For Lin Zixi, this was an embarrassing accident of epic level. If Gu Zecheng had not gone to participate in some economic forum the next day, he might have accepted the sponsor platform’s activity in order to avoid his dad.

However, during the three days that Gu Zecheng was in G City, he still found that something was wrong—Lin Zixi, who originally had been very close to him, suddenly stopped answering his call and did not reply to his messages; even if he occasionally responded, his attitude was so perfunctory that anyone could see through it at a glance.

Even when Big Boss Gu made a special call to tell him that he was going to get on the plane and go back to S City, he only got a response of "Okay, got it. That’s it, right? Then I’ll continue to get busy. See you in the evening."

"Heh, you have some balls!" Gu Zecheng, who had been hung up for the first time in ages, almost laughed in anger when he heard a “du du du” sound coming from his mobile phone.

And when his flight landed at S City’s airport, he naturally wasn’t welcomed with a nice surprise of a certain star secretly coming to the airport to pick him up—in fact, among the more than 30 unread messages on his mobile phone, there was not even one sent by the surnamed Lin.

Therefore, since Gu Zecheng came out of the airport, he had been looking at his mobile phone at a high frequency that he himself was not even aware of. The special assistant and the driver who were in charge of picking him up could not help but size him up from the rearview mirror.

In the end, Wang Yong, the bodyguard slash driver who had stayed with him for a long time, posed a question first, "Boss, what's the matter?"

"It's nothing! Some people are busy with their noble affairs; what can I do?!" Gu Zecheng said. Then he stopped looking at his mobile phone and threw it aside before leaning back on the seat and closing his eyes to rest as if out of sight, out of mind.

Wang Yong subconsciously exchanged glances with Special Assistant Xu Chengfeng in the passenger seat. Then he tactfully shut up and drove silently with great interest. At the same time, he also turned down the volume of the music and frantically guessed in his heart about which fucking god could actually make Big Boss Gu, a person with such status, feel frustrated.

Just when Wang Yong was recalling the list of names from S City to B City, from the business world to the political and government circles, Gu Zecheng, who was sitting in the back seat, suddenly opened his eyes again.

"Chengfeng, cancel the meeting in the afternoon and inform all the participants that the meeting will be rescheduled to 8:30 tomorrow morning." He paused, then continued almost bitingly, "Now, go home!"

…… Oh, the noble person was in the entertainment circle. Wang Yong, who had bought food for Lin Zixi several times, concluded in his heart.

When Gu Zecheng opened the door, he was greeted by silence instead of a clattering of pans in the kitchen or a greeting of "you're back" like before.

Although before Lin Zixi moved in, this kind of silence was the normal state he faced when he returned to this private space, Gu Zecheng suddenly felt that this kind of absolute silence he always appreciated brought not peace but icy coldness.

It was as ice-cold as the wintry outdoors.

However, before he could think much about it, a familiar yet strange scream came from behind the tightly closed door of the study, "Ahhh, I'm going to die, I'm going to die!"

The expression showing in Gu Zecheng's eyes instantly became sharp. He walked in quick steps to the wine cabinet in the living room without making a sound, and after gently turning the two ornaments, a hidden compartment opened soundlessly. Inside it was a silver pistol.

He held the pistol in his right hand, turned the safety off, and quietly walked to the door of the study. Then he violently pushed the door open with his left hand and took aim at the same time, ready to shoot.

"Don't move, and raise your hands!" Gu Zecheng shouted the moment the door opened.

And what were waiting for him behind the door in the dark room with the curtains closed was the back of Lin Zixi alone sitting in front of the computer screen with headphones on and his talking after a long sigh of relief, "Thank you, Chief S, thank you Chief S, or else I’d lose three games in a row at P Port."

Dad Gu turned the safety on and put the pistol away. Then he walked towards a certain young man and stood behind him for ten seconds without being noticed.

He walked to the window and pulled both layers of curtains open, so the ‘monster’ who had been engrossed in playing games for three days showed his original shape in broad daylight.

"I… You...why’re you back now? Didn't you say that you had to hold a meeting until 6 o'clock?!" The moment Lin Zixi discovered his dad, he reacted extremely fast, closing the game and the voice chat. But no matter how fast he was, there was no time for him to destroy other evidence in the room.

"Oh, you've really grown a pair!" Seeing the desk where he had never put food on was now heaped with takeaway boxes, Gu Zecheng said with a sneer, "You better have a reasonable explanation." 

Well, this matter was actually caused by Chen Yunyun. Who made her come up with an idea: "Picking feet for half a year, and a myriad of fans are lost. If you really continue to be a salted fish like this before joining the group, your fans will climb half of the wall…. You choose one of the current most popular games you’re familiar with. Later, I’ll find some popular anchors with good skills and humor to bring you to do game live streaming, which was enough for the hot search content for the next half month. At that time, you can also interact with fans more and strengthen their loyalties."

Of course, when Agent Chen said this, she did not foresee that young actor Lin would directly change shape in a single shake from an ‘idling jobless youth’ into an ‘Internet-addicted youngster who deserved electric shock treatment’.

So, although Lin Zixi had experienced countless normal methods of death in the game such as being shot to death by the enemy, bombed to death, and knocked to death with a frying pan, and had also experienced being shot dead when landing, getting his head hit by the airdrop box, being run over by his teammate's car... and other abnormal methods of death countless of times, he was still deeply in love with this tactical and competitive battle royale game.

After two days and one night of self-exploration and soloing and more than half a day of being escorted in a four-man team by three big game anchors, he gloriously maintained a record of 0 victory—which was also very much in line with his ‘Mercury retrograde’ character.

And after watching one of the anchors' live stream channel for more than an hour, Chen Yunyun had already given up treatment and wondered whether she should just make a ‘Lin Zixi game reverse koi’ hype.

"So it's because you're addicted to playing games that you don't eat and sleep properly..." And also didn't reply to my messages properly? Gu Zecheng sat in the boss chair that had been warmed and asked Lin Zixi, whose voice became lower as he explained, with a stern face.

"I... I'm doing this for work..." Lin Zixi blinked his peach blossom eyes and said with the most innocent and sincere expression, "Daddy, forgive me once again."

……If this is really my son, I can spank his ass—Dad Gu thought to himself seeing the ‘cheap son’ in front of him act like a spoiled child.

The ‘cheap son’ and his ‘cheap dad’ looked at each other speechlessly for three seconds. Then Gu Zecheng suddenly pulled Lin Zixi into his arms, pinched his chin while sneering, and said, "I’ve said it before, if I catch you being addicted to playing games and not eating properly, I have plenty of methods to make you cry and call 'Daddy'."

……Fuck! My dad actually didn't just talk nonsense and is really going to punish me physically?!—Lin Zixi’s intuition sensed a subtle danger, and his mind was somewhat muddled and shocked as he looked at the man who was encircling him closely.

Then in the next second, he showed all the acting skills he had learned from Movie Emperor Zhou and whispered miserably, "But you also said at that time that you’d only punish me after my injury was healed…. My neck still hurt yesterday QAQ."

Dad Gu, seeing the small expression of the person in his arms, took a deep breath and let him go while speaking in a deep and low voice beside his ear, "You, there’ll be that day when your injury heals..."

After speaking, Big Boss Gu, who had hurried back from G city covered in dust, went to his own room to take a shower and change clothes—he absolutely didn't take a cold shower, absolutely.

TL’s notes:

抠脚 (kōu jiǎo) = lit. to pick feet; fig. describing an artist who has no activities or works for a period of time

咸鱼 (xián yú) = lit. salted fish; fig. dead body; people who don't want to move; people who have no dreams

爬墙 (pá qiáng) = to climb a wall; (fig.) to be unfaithful; to like other stars

便宜儿子/爹 (pián yi ér zi/diē) = cheap son/dad refers to a son/dad obtained without having to spend money or effort

Previous | Next

Referring to - 34

Chapter 34

Lin Zixi's days had become more comfortable since he made a preliminary agreement with Dad Gu—he cooked and played games at home every day and went out for a late night snack with Gu Zecheng every once in a while—so much so that when Chen Yunyun was on a video call with him, she started to scream the moment she took a glance at young actor Lin, "Ahhh! How many catties of fat have you gained in the past two months?!"

“Three…. Four…. Five catties…. Five kilos TAT” Under his agent’s accusing gaze, Lin Zixi handed over his ‘concrete evidence of a crime’ like squeezing out toothpaste.

Chen Yunyun could not help but utter a string of swear words. After spending half an hour with Lin Zixi to finalize the works for a period of time, she spent another half an hour severely criticizing and re-educating this idol star.

As a result, when Gu Zecheng came home after getting off work that day, he was greeted by an entirely different dinner on the dining table—two plates and a bowl near his seat contained juicy and fragrant spicy stir-fried clams, vibrantly-colored chili chicken, and authentic spicy and sour noodles respectively; while on the other side, two steamed carrots, half of a steamed corn, a small piece each of steamed sweet potato and boiled chicken breast, and a few thin slices of boiled beef were neatly arranged in the delicate and beautiful peach blossom porcelain tableware.

"Are you... suffering from excessive internal heat?" Dad Gu approached Lin Zixi with some worry, held his chin with one hand, and lifted it gently, "Extend your tongue, and let me see."

Lin Zixi threw himself headlong into his dad’s arms and whined aggrievedly, "No... it’s Chen Yunyun. She ordered me to lose weight."

"To lose weight?" Gu Zecheng touched the waist of the person in his arms very naturally, "Where are you fat? What fat to reduce? It’s good to add some fat!"

Young actor Lin inwardly approved of his dad's words very much while still explaining in a weak voice to Gu Zecheng what ‘appearing fat on the camera’ was and that stars who put on weight would increase the workload of photo editors and station sisters. 

"But you can't go on a diet to lose weight. It's not good for your body." Dad Gu touched the little potbelly that Lin Zixi had accumulated during the past two months and patted it hard while saying, "From tomorrow onward, you’ll stop snacking and then go exercise with me every day."

"You actually exercise every day; why didn't I know?!" After living with his dad for so long, Lin Zixi had never seen him go exercising.

Gu Zecheng, seeing Lin Zixi’s eyes widening in shock, smiled, "I usually get up at five o'clock in the morning. Then I do boxing or swimming for an hour. When you get up early to make breakfast, I usually have been working for more than an hour."

Lin Zixi was even more shocked, "What the heck…. The statement that you business tycoons get up at four or five o'clock in the morning is actually not just chicken soup for the soul?!"

"Do you think it’s so easy to make money like you stars? It’s indeed... a little emperor who doesn't know the suffering of the people." Big Boss Gu said and gave the ‘little emperor’ a light pinch on the face, "It's settled then. Your Majesty should eat normally..."

Dad Gu glanced at the red and bright pieces on his half of the table while speaking, "Even if you prepared the food for me alone, why did you make it spicy? You can't even eat it."

The true ‘little emperor’ of the Gu family gave an embarrassed smile, "Isn’t it... to make me resist the temptation and eat the diet meal properly!"

"Your Majesty... is really promising." Gu Zecheng sighed and took out the coat that he had just hung in the cloakroom, " You go change your clothes. We'll go out to eat."

Seeing Lin Zixi's hesitation, he added, "I once heard the girl from the chairman’s office say something like... If you don't eat enough, how can you have strength to lose weight!"

Thus, little incapable ruler Lin, who was originally struggling to be polite, was immediately persuaded by his regent and changed his clothes happily.

After that, Lin Zixi, based on the idea of ​​’one last big meal before losing weight’, stopped talking about gaining a few taels of meat per meal for the time being.

It was not until he was about to sleep that he figured out that something was wrong—his dad really got up at five to exercise.

……

…………

Help! Did he still have time to leave home now?!

There was obviously not enough time to do it.

Thus, at half past six the next morning, Lin Zixi was dug out of the quilt by his dad.

Gu Zecheng leaned against the door frame of the bathroom watching the drowsy-eyed young man brushing his teeth and washing his face and felt a little helpless, "I’ve specially adjusted the time to work first and exercise afterwards. How come you still haven’t got up?"

"It's impossible to get up early. It's impossible to get up early in this lifetime." Lin Zixi yawned as he spoke. Then he followed Dad Gu in a daze all the way to the swimming pool on the top floor of the building.

However, when he saw Gu Zecheng coming out of the changing room by the pool, he was immediately clear-headed.

Lin Zixi had once caught a glimpse of the other party's figure through a white shirt, but that and seeing the bare wide shoulders, narrow waist, and long legs with his own eyes were two completely different things.

As a born gay, Lin Zixi's gaze could not help lingering on Big Boss Gu's abdominal muscles and mermaid line. When the ‘walking hormone’ approached, he even had an urge to have a nosebleed.

"OMG, I'm about to be reduced to being my dad's flesh fan!" Lin Zixi wailed in his heart and jumped into the pool when Dad Gu was still one meter away from him.

He needed to calm down!

But before he could calm down, someone actually jumped into the pool and arrived behind him in a few strokes.

That sturdy and powerful body seemed to stick to Lin Zixi's back, and a deep and low voice bringing warmth sounded behind his ears, "Why don't you warm up your lower body first?"

And Lin Zixi froze on the spot—a certain place he concealed under the water actually woke up unceremoniously in the wake of the other party's approach and words.

Even if it was the blessing of a normal physiological phenomenon like morning erection, getting turned on by his biological father early in the morning was…. Young actor Lin already had a death wish in his heart.

He threw out a sentence stiffly, "My stomach is a little uncomfortable!", and rushed out at a faster speed than when he jumped into the pool just now. After changing his clothes sloppily, he immediately scampered home—and took a cold shower.

TL’s notes:

斤 (jīn) = catty; weight equal to 0.5 kg; (Tw) weight equal to 0.6 kg

挤牙膏 (jǐ yá gāo) = lit. to squeeze out toothpaste; fig. to extract a confession under pressure

站姐 (zhàn jiě) = lit. station sister, refers to fans who use high-end cameras to shoot idols

小皇帝 (xiǎo huáng dì) = child emperor; (fig.) spoiled child; spoiled boy; pampered only child

两 (liǎng) = two; both; some; a few; tael, unit of weight equal to 50 grams (modern) or 1⁄16 of a catty (old)

肉体饭 (ròu tǐ fàn) = flesh fan, a kind of fan who’s obsessed with the idol's body

Previous | Next

Referring to - 33

Chapter 33

The last time Lin Zixi stayed at Gu Zecheng's place, he was ‘drunk when he came and in a hurry when he left’, so he basically didn't have time to observe it. This time, he could not refute and was taken away, so he had time and mood to take a closer look at this space that belonged to his dad.

The main color is rice-white, and the furniture was black. The European style was minimalist with low-key luxury. Compared with his own doghouse and the main house of the Gu family, young actor Lin would judge that his dad's (aesthetic) taste was frigid... ah, no, it was spartan. 

If Lin Zixi were to choose by himself, he would politely decline this style that was more like a studio than a home. But since he was temporarily living in the gold master daddy's house, it was no good for him to be pretentious and picky.

However, he had lived here for ten days, and he still couldn't stand it—it was not that he had any conflict with Dad Gu, but his days had been really boring.

The charm of ‘being on vacation’ was to sleep whenever you wanted, get up whenever you wanted, eat whatever you wanted, and play whatever game you wanted.

Whereas he had to go to bed and get up early, eat a healthy diet and avoid junk food, rest more, and watch TV and play games less every day…. This was simply no different from how he lived when he was still in the hospital. Was he on vacation or in prison?!

The most terrible thing was that since he lived here, Gu Zecheng, aka Big Boss Gu, had to come and live here every day no matter how busy he was with work or how late he was after socializing. He was simply more responsible and diligent than a prison guard—a prison guard still had a day off every week!

Young actor Lin, who had been raised free-range by Mrs. Lin for more than ten years, experienced a life under the strict control of his dad for almost two weeks and finally couldn’t bear it anymore.

"I went to the hospital for a re-examination today. The doctor said that my recovery was better than expected, and there’s nothing serious. I really don't need anyone to take care of me…." After dinner in the evening, Lin Zixi took out the hospital's follow-up report and talked to Gu Zecheng, who was washing the dishes, "Did you sign a three-month contract with Sister Wang? I'll be responsible for the rest of her salary, and I really don't need her to come later."

Dad Gu turned his head and glanced at the report in Lin Zixi’s hand before hitting the nail on the head, "Then you can take advantage of me not being home and wave as much as you want, right?"

"Absolutely not, I promise!" Lin Zixi immediately defended himself loudly, "I was too excited after having just been discharged from the hospital that day, so I accidentally stayed up all night..."

Then the next day, his dad invited someone to clean and cook while looking after him at the same time.

Young actor Lin saw that the man in front of him was still looking at him with some mistrust, so he tried hard to open his peach blossom eyes wider, showing an innocent and sincere expression, "Daddy, please believe me one more time."

Yes, after the trial in the hospital back then was fruitless, Lin Zixi occasionally pushed his luck to feel his dad out. Whenever he found an opportunity, he would call Gu Zecheng Dad jokingly—not to mention observing his dad's reaction, at least, he could also cultivate the atmosphere of ‘benevolent father, filial son’ in advance...right?

Although his dad seemed to be pleased and amused every time, Lin Zixi could not see anything. But in any case, the other party was not really angry because of it or forbade him to call like that again.

Naturally, this time was also the same.

Gu Zecheng lifted up a hand that was still wet after washing the dishes and flicked Lin Zixi's forehead hard. Seeing the other party's childish expression of blinking and rubbing his forehead in pretend grievance, he only snorted coldly and said, "I'll believe you this time. But if once again I catch you not eating and sleeping properly and just playing with your computer and mobile phone..."

He stopped halfway and bent down slightly to face Lin Zixi before whispering the second half of the sentence in his ear, "Once your injury is completely healed, you’ll have plenty of time to cry and call 'Daddy'."

Hearing his dad's words, young actor Lin suddenly couldn’t react until Gu Zecheng straightened up his body again and moved away from his ear. Only then did he manage to react somewhat sluggishly—did his dad mean to give him corporal punishments?!

Although it was said that corporal punishment was common occurence for many second and third generations of the military when they were young, and that most strict fathers in the compound would strap their own naughty little devils when they got angry, but he was already an adult and still a celebrity somewhat. If he was made to stand still as a punishment and spanked by his dad because of watching TV and playing games….

As Lin Zixi was thinking this way, his mind could not help but form a picture of Gu Zecheng pressing him on his knees and taking off his pants and beating him, making his face immediately turn red.

Moreover, not only did he blush, but his heart also started to beat rapidly all of a sudden, and there was some kind of feeling that he did not know whether it was a guilty conscience or something rushing forth, which made him dare not raise his head to look at his dad for a long time.

Fortunately, Gu Zecheng, seeing the dyed red white nape that was exposed after Lin Zixi lowered his head, only laughed silently and did not continue the topic. Instead, he said, "Let her keep coming, okay? Just to cook your meals, and then she can leave. Although this place is quite close to our company building, it’s not very nice of me to ask my special assistant to bring you meals every day…”

The temperature on Lin Zixi’s face had dropped a lot at this time, so he quickly raised his head and waved his hand, saying to his dad, "No need to be so troublesome. I can cook by myself, and I can do simple cleaning…. I'm actually not used to having a stranger come to my house every day."

Gu Zecheng was a little surprised, "You also can cook?"

"Of course. After my mom remarried..." Lin Zixi carefully observed his dad's expression before continuing, "My stepfather is a very good man and also quite nice to me, but I was an awkward teenager at that time. I felt embarrassed, so I didn't move to live with them and only occasionally went over on weekends…. Anyway, my former home was a bit closer to our high school, and they couldn't force me, so they could only comply with me. My cooking skills were developed at that time. Later, when I attended CFA, everyone was tired of eating in the cafeteria and often secretly and illegally used electricity to cook by themselves. I also won the rare honor of 'Best Chef in the 7B Dormitory Building' for two consecutive years.” 

This was the first time that Lin Zixi had mentioned his past in front of Gu Zecheng. Gu Zecheng quietly listened to him talk until the end and then gently rubbed the top of his head as if to comfort him. He did not mention his mom's remarriage or his high school days but asked in a gentle and curious tone, "Why’re you only the best chef for two consecutive years? Were you later discovered using electricity illegally?" 

"With our technique of hiding things, how could we’re discovered!" Lin Zixi recalled what happened in college with nostalgia and a smile on his face, "In our school, first-year and second-year students aren’t allowed to go out to accept an acting role. I made my acting debut when I was a third-year student. But my junior schoolmates have been spreading the legend of a kitchen god from the senior generation…. I have a junior called Xue Yaochen, and when I participated in the food variety show this year, he still took his cue from me."

Gu Zecheng also followed him and smiled, but he suddenly stopped smiling halfway through and pretended to be serious. He poked Lin Zixi’s forehead again and, hating iron for not becoming steel, sighed, "Your school doesn’t let students accept an acting role before they’re in the third year in order to make them study well and not be too fickle and impatient. Why’re you still so bad at acting, though?!"

…… Tell me, why did his gold master daddy always touch his sore spot?!

 

"I didn't expect that I’d actually become popular! My goal at that time was to rely on my face to play supporting roles for a few years, save some money, and make a living..." Lin Zixi said while crossing his hands to protect his forehead and staring helplessly at his dad. "Brother, you’re my own dad! Let's not talk about this, okay?!"

"Now you know to regret it?" His elder brother, his gold master, his own dad shook his head. “You have to learn to act with Zhou Fan more seriously. Don't always cruelly poison the taste of your little fans and the eyes of the general public."

 

Young actor Lin immediately saluted again, "Guaranteed to complete the organization’s task!"

Gu Zecheng, seeing him with beautiful big eyes as bright as the full moon, pinched his cheek lightly and said with a smile, "If you can really complete the task, the organization will invest in you to make a big drama of the year, and if you work hard for one drama, you can get the best actor award."

"The organization is really..." Young actor Lin saw his dad's high-spirited look and finally swallowed his emotional complaint and changed it to, "Too considerate."

Nowadays, the ‘big drama of the year’ was like being cursed; the one that was praised to the sky was the one that failed, understand?!

There was one that got bad ratings and poor evaluation of not being trendy enough after it aired, and another that had not been able to be aired and delayed the production company until it almost went bankrupt, understand?!

His family's organization was really…. The old father with hereditary Mercury retrograde shouldn't blindly set up a flag for his son, okay?

TL’s note:

浪 (làng) = wave; breaker; unrestrained; dissipated; to play

Previous | Next

Referring to - 32

Chapter 32

Lin Zixi’s house in S City was bought not long after he graduated. At that time, he had not made much money, so he chose a house in an ordinary community near the Third Ring Road.

Although young actor Lin soon became famous in the entertainment circle, he had been filming and participating in various programs and public activities all over the country, so he actually hadn’t lived here much. And since his nature was too lazy to bother, he had not thought about getting himself a better house.

His gold master daddy, however, started frowning as soon as the car drove into the community. When he parked the car downstairs in the unit where he lived, his whole face already showed displeasure.

Dad Gu had never lived in a place where unfamiliar vehicles could come and go at will. In all his life, it was either a military compound or a top-level mansion. He asked Lin Zixi, who was wearing a cap and sunglasses beside him, "Are the security guards in your community usually so lax?"

“It’s usually not bad...I think?" Lin Zixi explained on behalf of the property management with uncertainty, "It's normal not to stop you. After all, no one would come to a community like ours to do bad things driving a Maybach… right?"

As soon as he finished saying those words, his chin was held by the man beside him, forcing him to raise his head and look at him.

Gu Zecheng lightly stroked his lips with his thumb, narrowed his eyes, and asked with a sneer, "Are you sure?"

Lin Zixi originally wanted to joke and asked in reply, "Don't you think so?" But for some reason, he felt that there seemed to be something wrong with the atmosphere inside this narrow cabin, so he instinctively changed the subject, "Your schedule on Monday should be very busy, so I won't waste your time. Another day..."

"Okay." Gu Zecheng said and nodded without waiting for him to finish his sentence. 

Lin Zixi was a little confused, "Okay what?"

    

Gu Zecheng put down his hand, stared into his eyes, and smiled a little teasingly, "Weren’t you going to invite me to your house to sit? Okay."

Dad, you did not play cards according to the routine. What about ‘getting up at five o'clock every day and working an average of 100 hours per week’?!

Young actor Lin recalled the state of his ‘doghouse’ when he left home before and prayed that Assistant Xiao Zhang would give him a nice surprise by helping him to tidy the house up the few times he went there to get some stuff.

However, before he even got home, there was a ‘nice surprise’ waiting for him.

"Lin...Lin Zixi!" As soon as Lin Zixi led Gu Zecheng into the entrance hall of the unit, he heard an ear-piercing voice calling him.

He turned his head in surprise and looked over, and the two figures who were initially sitting on the sofa in the hall had already rushed to him in a few steps.

It was two young girls whom seemed to be only eighteen or nineteen years old. Their originally fair faces were now flushed with excitement, and there were tears in their eyes, but their expressions were unstoppable smiles. It was a true portrayal of fans when they saw their idols.

Young actor Lin had seen such a scene a lot in recent years. Although he did not expect to actually be encountered by fans at the door of his house, he immediately and reflexively put on a business smile.

However, before he could ask the other party to keep his itinerary and address a secret, the words of the two young girls broke the smile on his face.

"Brother Zixi, you’re finally discharged from the hospital. We’ve been waiting here for almost a month, and we’re all worried to death." The girl with a ponytail on the left said.

The girl with a bun on the right continued, "We’re relieved to see that you’re recovering so well. We only saw your Weibo post before..."

Lin Zixi could not help interrupting before they finished speaking and confirmed in astonishment, "You two have been waiting for me here for almost a month?"

"Yes." Bun nodded.

The girl with a ponytail saw Lin Zixi's face darkened and quickly explained, "Brother, don't worry, we're not illegitimate fans, and we didn't follow your tracks! You posted 'moving to a new house' on Weibo when you’ve just bought a house here. At that time, I saw the scenery outside the window in your photo and suspected that you and I lived in the same community. Later, based on the angle and ratio of the building, I determined that it should be this unit..."

"We’ve been liking you since you’ve just debuted and played Hong Lan, and we didn't intend to disturb you after I knew you lived here. But this time we’re really worried, so we’ve been keeping watch here…. We’re really not that kind of stalkerish illegitimate fans. Don't be angry, Brother Zixi." Bun also said.

Lin Zixi was not angry, he felt his blood run cold.

Although these two could not be strictly considered as illegitimate fans, Sherlock Holmes fans were also a bit terrifying, right?!

But seeing these two happy young faces full of apprehension after what had happened, young actor Lin could not say any harsh words—although ‘favoring fans’ was a characteristic set for him by the company, he was indeed grateful to and cared about his own fans.

"You..."

"Are you high school students?" Gu Zecheng, who had been listening quietly on the side, asked without waiting for Lin Zixi to rack his brains to respond while stepping forward to shield him and staring down at the two girls condescendingly. 

"No, no, we’re first-year university students." Ponytail waved her hand quickly.

"Oh, going to university?" Gu Zecheng sneered, and his expression became more serious, "Do you think that after passing the university entrance exam and going to university you can just do what you want with your time, skipping classes for a month and wasting time waiting here?"

Big Boss Gu was so stern that he could even lecture Lin Zixi like a son—although it was indeed his son—let alone Lin Zixi's young fans.

The two young girls were questioned by him to the point of keeping their heads down, but the girl with a ponytail still wanted to struggle, "No, it's not wasting time…. Being able to see my brother safe and sound with my own eyes is worth waiting for so long..."

Gu Zecheng did not wait for her to finish struggling and continued speaking, "You think it's worth it, but it's because you don’t value your own life. So, in order to get a glance of your idol, you can neglect your studies and keep watch at the place he may appear; in order to create 'traffic' for him, you can mechanically reposting Weibo, playing the list, and controlling comments day and night; in order to fight for his sales volume, you can spend all your savings and even take out consumer loans…. You do everything just to bring glory to your idol, but you may not even know what kind of person he is. Maybe he’s just a beautiful illusion created amidst the public revelry by capital until his last drop of blood is drained by capital."

He sighed after speaking and pointed towards Lin Zixi at his side, "Do you think it's worth it to affect your own lives for him?"

As a result, the two young girls who had listened to the lecture in silence glanced at each other and then raised their heads at the same time, looking directly into Gu Zecheng's eyes and stating firmly, "It's worth it!

"Our brother is the realest and isn’t the same as those with character designs!" Bun said loudly.

"Brother Zixi favors fans the most. Even when endorsing and being an ambassador, the products are all what we use every day, so that we won’t waste money!" Ponytail also spoke without the slightest hesitation.

In the end, the two of them also spoke in unison, "Meeting Brother Zixi is the luckiest thing in our life!"

By the way, they also gave Big Boss Gu a look of contempt with the meaning "If you don't understand anything, don't blather groundlessly."

Standing by and listening to the two young girls blowing rainbow farts on the spot, Lin Zixi originally almost suffered from embarrassment. As a result, he saw the look on his dad's face and barely stopped himself from laughing out loud.

Gu Zecheng—a distinguished big shot in the business world and the chairman of a large listed company; no matter what lectures or forums he attended, countless people were waiting to hear him make a speech, and countless media were waiting to collate his words to make news—unexpectedly capsized in front of two barely grown-up young girls today.

 

It had to be said that in today's world, when it came to brainwashing, fan circles were comparable with evil cults.

Lin Zixi tried his best to hold back his laughter and win back his dad’s face, "In my heart, you fans are the most priceless treasures. So I hope you can have a happy and upward life. While liking me, you also have to cherish yourselves at the same time, for your own futures and great efforts…. I think only when idols and fans strive and struggle together that everyone would feel they’ve made the most of their lives many years later. This is the best companionship and the most affectionate confession."

"Brother Zixi…” Tears welled up in the eyes of Bun and Ponytail, and they nodded desperately, "Don't worry, we’ll definitely study hard, so that my brother won't be worried or lose face!"

Lin Zixi hurriedly pulled out some tissues for them. After another persuasion, he finally sent the two ‘Sherlock Holmes’ out of the entrance hall.

When young actor Lin came back, seeing his gold master daddy staring at him, he touched his nose and carefully chose a reason that would not hurt the other party's self-esteem much, "That... As for coaxing fans, we idols are quite professional."

"Huh." Dad Gu snorted coldly, "Coaxing. In the end, capital and society will teach you how to conduct yourself."

Lin Zixi coughed dryly and changed the subject, "How did you arrange your schedule today? Do you still have time to come to my house to sit? "

“Sit? What sitting?" His dad said while pressing the elevator button. "Why aren’t you hurrying to go home and pack your luggage?"

"Eh?"

"You've been found at the door of your house, and you still don’t hurry up and change your place…. The house near my company where you stayed when drunk last time is usually empty, so you can live there first." Gu Zecheng said.

"What!"

TL’s note:

打榜 (dǎ bǎng) = making the list refers to maintaining the top position of the list by posting Weibo, voting, etc.

Previous | Next

Referring to - 31

Chapter 31

After eating dinner, young actor Lin continued to lean against the bed to watch his period drama. Big Boss Gu seemed to have finished his work, so he sat on the side of the bed and watched the drama with him.

The screenwriter of this drama, Chu Yun, was worthy of being a well-known old hand in the industry. There were hardly any romantic scenes, but the business battle ones were full of ups and downs and continuous climax. As a result, even Gu Zecheng watched it with great interest and discussed the plot with Lin Zixi.

The two of them were originally sitting very close to each other, so Lin Zixi could feel the hot breath brushing against his cheek and neck when the man beside him turned his head to talk.

He did not know why, but his mind could not help but recall the other party's sturdy body wrapped in a white shirt—as a fairly dedicated actor, young actor Lin had always been doing body shape management and exercising from time to time, but compared to his dad, he was definitely not the one releasing hormones from head to foot.

Gu Zecheng found that Lin Zixi was a little absent-minded and thought he was tired, so he paused the video.

"Let’s stop here today. You can continue watching it tomorrow." Dad Gu put the laptop on the table next to him and warned again, "Don't play with your mobile phone until late at night."

Lin Zixi looked up at his dad’s face and suddenly raised his right hand in a salute while giving his word very seriously, "Okay, Daddy! No problem, Daddy!"

Gu Zecheng was pleased as well as amused and poked Lin Zixi’s forehead lightly, "My luck’s so bad that I got a son like you."

Lin Zixi laughed "hehe" and replied, "Isn’t mine… a hereditary Mercury retrograde!"

As a (fake) European emperor who had drawn a whole set of orange cards (by cheating), how could Big Boss Gu acknowledge these words? So he just poked Lin Zixi's forehead again, "You’re a young man, what’re you doing with feudal superstition."

"This is metaphysics, metaphysics..." Lin Zixi watched Gu Zecheng leave while trying hard to defend this ‘feudal superstition’ spread among the vast majority of Internet-addicted teenagers. When it was confirmed that the man had gone, his original relaxed and laughing expression turned into a confused one.

You said... had his gold master daddy already known that he was indeed his gold master and daddy?

After all, the four-dimensional parallel world was too scientific to the extent that it was not scientific. Lin Zixi thought about the reason Gu Zecheng was suddenly so kind to him for more than half a month, but except for ‘his true identity was exposed’, he really couldn't think of another reason.

But if his dad already knew that he indeed got this son with ‘hereditary Mercury retrograde’, Lin Zixi truly couldn't understand why the other party did not lay all his cards on the table and let him really recognize his ancestors and return to his clan.

So he suddenly spoke to sound out Gu Zecheng's attitude just now.

Needless to say, the result was nothing.

As a young traffic actor criticized as having ‘zero acting skills’, he wanted to study the micro-expression of an old veteran who had been rising and falling in the business world for many years…. Young actor Lin thought about it after the event and felt that he was humiliating himself.

Lin Zixi tossed and turned restlessly on the hospital bed in the middle of the night and eventually decided to let his half-dead brain cells live—regardless of what his dad thought, since the other party was so kind to him now, the relationship between his gold master daddy and him would be that of a benevolent father and a filial son... um, or a friendly elder brother and a respectful younger brother, that's all.

Anyway, in view of Gu Zecheng coming to take care of him every day while he was in the hospital, even if the other party was not his daddy, Lin Zixi was set on making friends with this good brother.

After Lin Zixi stayed in the hospital for more than a week, he could be discharged.

Although he was repeatedly told by the doctor that he still needed to recuperate for another month or two and could not be too tired, it was better than lying in the hospital bed all day long and waiting for the gold master daddy to come and feed the patient.

This time, young actor Lin was implicated in disaster for no reason and walked in front of the gates of hell. Among the misfortunes, he fortunately had more than three months of empty slot within his schedule after completing The Legend of Concubine Ling and before having to enter the next production team, which was just enough for his recuperation without any contract disputes.

Agent Chen Yunyun originally wanted him to receive more variety shows, magazines, advertisements, etc., but now it had turned into wanting him to be a salted fish self-cultivating at home. In fact, Lin Zixi was still very happy—after all, he had already earned more than enough money; although these business activities brought in a lot of money quickly, they were just icing on the cake for him, not so necessary.

What's more, forgive him for talking bluntly... with the current ecology of the entertainment circle, young traffic actors like him or those idols becoming magazine covers and brand ambassadors was essentially digging out fans' wallets and gilding idols with ‘super capable of selling goods’.

Lin Zixi signed the contract with Stars Entertainment too early, which led to him basically having no right to speak in front of the company—if he had not become popular now, he simply wouldn’t have had any right to speak according to the contract—otherwise, he would probably not participate in this kind of activity of milking fans of their money.

Staying at home playing games plus having internet, snacks, and takeaways was a blessing in life!

Since young actor Lin officially debuted, he had never rested or had a vacation for more than a week. This time, he used his life to exchange for a super-long vacation. After thinking carefully, he actually felt that it was still worth it.

So much so that when Gu Zecheng was driving Lin Zixi home—oh, yes, even though it was Monday, Big Boss Gu still didn’t go to the company for a meeting in the morning but came to the hospital to pick him up after he was discharged—he felt that the young man beside him was smiling very cheekily and sweetly.

He held the steering wheel with one hand and stretched out his right hand to stroke Lin Zixi's hair, which had grown a lot after more than a month. Realizing that it felt really good, he did it again, "So happy to be discharged from hospital and return home? "

But after asking, he figured it out himself, "You’re happy that you can take a long vacation in the name of recuperating, aren’t you?" 

In front of his dad, his gold master, and his Big Boss Gu, how could young actor Lin admit it. He immediately shook his head and said insincerely, "No, no, no, I love to work, and working makes me happy!"

"Then you come to be my special assistant for the next two months, okay? It can also make the old lady feel at ease." Gu Zecheng, seeing Lin Zixi’s stunned face, held back a smile and pretended to continue seriously, saying, "Don't worry. Since you have no previous working experience in the workplace, I’ll let the secretary’s office make special arrangements for you to do induction training, and I won’t give you too many responsibilities at the beginning." 

Dad Gu's expression showed that he was very serious about the matter, and Lin Zixi was entirely unsure for quite a while whether his dad was joking or really had this plan. So he could only automatically make a very down-to-earth reaction, "Then… how is the salary calculated?"

Big Boss Gu thought for a moment, "Just like those fresh graduates recruited by the secretary's office this year, it seems that the annual salary is 100,000 to 150,000."

Lin-currently popular young traffic actor-Zixi, who generated nearly 100 million income for Stars Entertainment last year, was immediately convinced of his gold master daddy's skill to tell bad jokes in deadly earnest. "You’ve spent so much money to win my stud earring in the charity night, and you only give me a salary of 150,000 a year?"

"Speaking of the stud earring..." Gu Zecheng stepped on the brakes at the red light at the intersection, took out a small red box from the inner pocket of his coat, and handed it to Lin Zixi.

Lin Zixi looked at this rather conspicuous and familiar box, and an ominous premonition emerged in his heart, "This is..."

"Your salary for the next 13 years." Dad Gu said.

Unexpectedly, it was really that ‘LianXi Fufu couple’s’ stud earring that he bought for 400,000 and his prodigal old dad spent 2 million to win!

And looking at Gu Zecheng's meaning, it seemed that he still wanted to gift it to him….

How others would react when they received jewels that their gold master had spent 2 million to win, Lin Zixi did not know. In any case, holding this unlucky thing, which was returned to its rightful owner, his whole person was not well.

He forced a smile and handed the box containing the stud earring back to the man beside him, "This… no merit and no reward. How can I accept such a valuable thing..."

"It's just a congratulatory gift for your smooth discharge from the hospital." Big Boss Gu glanced at Lin Zixi as he spoke, only to discover that his expression was wrong, "Why, didn't you say that this stud earring was very special to you?"

The case was solved. As it turned out, Gu Zecheng actually crushed his pure fan and CP fan to win this stud earring just because he believed a sentence from his performance at that time.

Lin Zixi felt heartbroken and flattered at the same time. In the end, in order not to attack his dad's good intentions, he could only admit it through gritted teeth, "Yes...it's very special, thank you."

But how could Big Boss Gu be fooled just like that? He frowned, and his expression became serious, "Tell me the truth, what's the matter with this stud earring? Even if you don't tell me, I can ask someone to check it."

How embarrassing it would be to ask someone else to check it….

Lin Zixi thought about it but still explained to his dad honestly, "Do you still remember when we took a plane and had an accident? At that time, I told you about fan circle culture and so on, and I also mentioned that I had a stud earring that was misunderstood by LianXi Fufu CP fans as a couple’s earring."

Lin Zixi paused and sighed, "That's it."

After he said this, the air suddenly became quiet.

Gu Zecheng, who had experienced countless storms and waves, was also silent.

When they stopped at the red light again, Big Boss Gu stretched out his hand and took away the red box that seemed to be scalding hot in Lin Zixi's hand.

Lin Zixi did not react for a while and looked at his dad with a question mark on his face.

"I suddenly remembered that our group’s requirement this year is to graduate from 985 universities, and Your Central Film Academy isn’t even included in 211. So we can't recruit you." Gu Zecheng said and took the ‘salary for the next 13 years’ back into his coat pocket.

…

……

Once again, Lin Zixi was really convinced of his dad's skill to tell bad jokes in deadly earnest.

TL’s notes:

985 universities or Project 985 are 39 universities classified as doctoral universities with very high research activities among all Chinese universities, regarded as the tier 1 universities out of 3,012 higher education institutions as of 2021, and viewed as some of the most prestigious universities of all Chinese universities and consistently ranked among the best in the world.

Project 211 included 116 universities that are regarded as the tier 1 universities in China out of 3,012 higher education institutions as of 2021 and viewed as some of the most prestigious universities of all Chinese universities.

Previous | Next

Referring to - 30

Chapter 30

Friend, do you believe in a four-dimensional space parallel world?

Lin Zixi previously didn’t believe it, but he had been doubting himself more and more during these past few days. In fact, he was already cold before the rescue came, and he was now reborn in a parallel world, right?

Otherwise, how to explain the fact that his gold master daddy had changed his temper since he woke up. The style of frequently disliking... ah, no, educating him changed into treating him like the warmth of spring, which could be said to be a gentle wind and a fine rain, extremely concerned and caring.

Moreover, he actually came to the hospital to visit him every day for more than half a month.

Big Boss Gu would show up at six or seven o'clock in the evening most of the time, bringing a blood-enriching and qi-nourishing meal. After having dinner with young actor Lin, he would talk a few sentences to him awkwardly and leave at around nine o'clock. Once, he had a dinner party on Saturday night, so he arranged for someone to deliver the meal to the hospital in advance. After the dinner party ended, he declined various subsequent rounds, rushed over before Lin Zixi went to sleep, and carefully inquired about his physical condition that day.

That night, Lin Zixi suddenly felt peaceful and contented while listening to the low-pitched and pleasant voice of his life-giver and smelling the faint smell of wine left on his body after washing up. It was like a boat that drifted with the waves and went with the flow finally met a natural harbor offering a berth after wandering all over the world.

When Dad Gu stopped talking, he found that Lin Zixi had fallen asleep leaning against a pillow.

Gu Zecheng slowly laid the hospital bed flat, gently covered Lin Zixi with the quilt, and stood beside the bed for a while watching his sleeping face before turning off the light and leaving.

Because young actor Lin accidentally went to bed early the previous day, he felt that he was in a very good condition when he woke up the next day. He felt like he could log in to the game any minute and draw out the orange cards a hundred times in a row…. Oh, wrong, he had already uninstalled that unlucky mobile game.

When Lin-hereditary African youth-Zixi was still considering whether he should reinstall the game to pass the time in the hospital, his gold master daddy came with a healthy breakfast. And after having breakfast with him, the other party unexpectedly didn't leave. He just sat on the sofa and started to read some documents, looking like he was going to spend a whole day here.

Gu Zecheng stayed in the ward and did not leave. Lin Zixi commented, "If you have something to do, just go and do it. There’s my assistant, so I’m fine." But he actually felt very happy—could this be the feeling of ‘a child with a mother is like a piece of jewel’?

However, the mobile phone could not be played—who made his dad completely heed the doctor's advice and believe that playing the mobile phone was very harmful to the spirit and not conducive to his recuperation.

Assistant Xiao Zhang had actually helped him bring his laptop from home, so young actor Lin reclined on the hospital bed doing nothing but catching up with the recent very hot TV series. And it happened that the one who played the role of the leading male's early departed father was still his acquaintance, Movie Emperor Zhou, aka Zhou Fan, whom had given him private acting lessons several times.

This was a period drama, inferred from the life of a certain legendary big shot in that special era when the whole country was smashed to pieces. The script was a rarely seen masterpiece; the cast converged three generations of old, middle, and young real ‘actors’; the stage props were exquisite, and the post production was reliable. It was no wonder that the ratings and public discussion of this drama had grown explosively since it was on the air.

Lin Zixi watched four episodes in one sitting on the video website. If it were not for Dad Gu controlling him, he could not wait to keep watching without eating lunch, let alone taking a nap to preserve and nurture his spirit.

As a result, after young actor Lin forfeited his mobile phone, his laptop was also cruelly confiscated by the gold master daddy, making him finally enjoy a special treatment that he had never enjoyed in his school years—fortunately, ‘Head Teacher Gu’ only confiscated the illegal device but did not call the parents afterwards.

In the end, Lin Zixi was an injured person who had just escaped death. Although he posed as a lively dragon and animated tiger, as soon as he touched a pillow, he showed his true shape, a little piglet who fell asleep not long after lying down.

He slept for quite a long time. When he woke up, it was already dusk, and Gu Zecheng, who was sitting on the sofa by the window, was closing a folder.

Big Boss Gu got up and moved his tired body a little. The temperature of the air conditioner in the ward was relatively high, and at this time, he was wearing only a white shirt on his upper body, showing a figure that was normally hidden under a suit.

Seeing Gu Zecheng's body bathed in the warmth of winter sunset and his broad shoulders, strong arms, and flat abdomen almost painted golden, Lin Zixi suddenly remembered a sentence from his own fans who often blowed rainbow farts with eyes closed—"My brother is a walking hormone!"

Well, considering that the gold master daddy was still taking the initiative to downgrade himself to be his big brother, using this sentence to describe Dad Gu’s figure was indeed logical and spot-on, and there was no problem at all.

"What are you laughing at?" Gu Zecheng, who was being stared at, asked after finding that the man on the hospital bed was awake and sporting a weird smile on his face.

Lin Zixi, who was letting his imagination run wild, was asked so suddenly he was caught off guard and actually said that rainbow fart directly. What's worse, he also added the common phrase in the fan circle after this sentence: "My brother is a walking hormone! Please come straight to me, thank you!"

… 

……

If this was a parallel world, could he travel back to the original world?!

He chose to die! ! !

The next second after Young Actor-fandom culture harmed me-Lin realized what he had said, he finally experienced the embarrassment and panic of his fans when they found out that he would occasionally go to a certain bullet screen video website—he was special, though, because he said it face-to-face!

He wanted to be an innocent and good person, but he did not even have the chance to learn from fans and delete the barrage overnight….

At this moment, Lin Zixi had lost all his verbal ability and did not even dare to glance at Gu Zecheng. He opened his mouth three times but could not come up with a reasonable explanation.

So, after what felt like a century of silence, he heard his dad's seemingly calm voice, "What kind of mess have you learned from your fans?"

The molested gold master daddy unexpectedly wasn’t going to clean  the door and even sent him a ladder to step down. Young actor Lin did not give thought to why the other party knew that he learned from fans and hurriedly followed with a justification, "Really, kids nowadays, when they meet someone they like, one is crazier than others. I just woke up and was still a little muddle-headed, so I spoke without thinking. I don't know how they can keep saying these words without shame all day long."

After Lin Zixi finished speaking, he felt that his explanation seemed to be a bit wrong. He thought about it for a while but could not figure it out. However, after hearing his dad cough and ask him what (blood-enriching) food he wanted to eat at night, he wondered if his humble life had been saved by a fluke.

Only then did he dare to raise his head to look at the person beside him, but for some reason, he thought that Big Boss Gu's ears seemed to be a little red.

It was… probably because the air conditioner’s temperature in the ward was turned up too high….

After all, even he himself felt a little hot on his face.

Well, it must have been so.

TL’s notes:

清理门户 (qīng lǐ mén hù) = to clean the door, originally refers to throwing away the dirty and bad things in the house; later, the door was borrowed to refer to the "sect", and it was extended to remove or rectify the members of the sect that humiliated the reputation of the sect

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Referring to - 29

Chapter 29

When Lin Zixi finally regained his consciousness in the VIP ward, he unexpectedly discovered that the person beside him was actually Gu Zecheng.

His half-live giver as well as life saver was sitting on the sofa next to the bed and looking down at the documents. As if sensing his gaze, he suddenly lifted his head and looked over.

At first, Dad Gu was stunned seeing the person on the hospital bed have his eyes open and staring at him. After that, he showed an expression of unabashed relief and joy.

The medical staff received the call and rushed over to examine Lin Zixi. After they were done and left, Gu Zecheng walked to the bed, bent down, and pulled the quilt for Lin Zixi while looking into his eyes and explaining, "You’ve been in a coma for three days and only got out of the ICU yesterday morning. Your agent hasn’t been able to contact your mother, so your assistant and I have been taking turns to accompany you for the past two days."

No, no, no…. If his mom could be contacted, then she and his gold master daddy would stage an unexpected reunion, and he was the one who had to worry about it!

It was not that he did not want to acknowledge Gu Zecheng, but he had been acting as his dad's younger brother for a few months. If the truth was let out under these circumstances without any preparation…. It was so damn embarrassing just to think about.

Fortunately, student Zhou Qianqian actually turned on the unrivaled mode under the incentive of her idol’s signature. She slaughtered her classmates in this final exam and bravely seized first place in the grade. Young actor Lin fulfilled his promise and signed up her family of three for 20 days of luxurious tour, departing the day before the Boshen Charity Night and only returning after the New Year.

"My mom...is abroad...cough..." Lin Zixi opened his mouth to explain, but his throat hurt so much after just saying a few words, and the words he wanted to say were interrupted by a cough.

Gu Zecheng turned his gaze towards Lin Zixi's neck, which was bound by layers of gauze, with some worry, but he held back and did not reach out to touch or caress it, "The doctor said that you’re quite lucky to not hurt your vocal cords and airway. Once the wound heals, it’ll leave a scar. It shouldn’t be a big hindrance, but eating and speaking will be affected during this time, so you have to rest well for a while..."

Gu Zecheng paused. Then he gently stroked Lin Zixi's soft hair and continued speaking using a soothing tone, "Don't worry, I’ll accompany you."

Dad Gu's tender behavior made young actor Lin half touched and half doubtful. He even suspected that he had traveled to a parallel world or his dad’s body had been worn by someone else, or... his identity as an illegitimate son had been exposed?

For a while, Lin Zixi did not know what he should do in response, and it was also inconvenient for him to speak. So he could only stare at Gu Zecheng with a pair of peach blossom eyes, looking innocent and miserable.

Gu Zecheng smiled and rubbed his head again. Just as he was about to speak, he was interrupted by a sudden knock on the door.

As soon as Assistant Xiao Zhang entered the room and saw that Lin Zixi had woken up, he immediately rushed to the hospital bed and said loudly and excitedly, "Brother Lin, you finally woke up... You’ve been in a coma for three days, and you also went into the intensive care unit. You nearly scared me to death! You don't know, Sister Chen secretly cried two days ago…. Oh, that’s right, I have to call Sister Chen and tell her..."

"Go out and call." Gu Zecheng frowned and interrupted Assistant Zhang's words, "Zixi needs to rest more and recuperate. Tell Chen Yunyun to come again tomorrow at noon. You can also go home. I’ll accompany him tonight."

"Eh?" Young actor Lin exclaimed softly and then winked and wrote "Let Xiao Zhang accompany me" on his dad's palm.

Dad Gu, feeling a slight itch in the hollow of his palm, waited until Lin Zixi stopped before gripping his hand and then winked at him, "Am I not your brother? It's a matter of course for the family member to look after a hospitalized loved one."

…...You're not my brother; you're my dad!

Seeing Assistant Xiao Zhang's calm face, it was obvious that he already knew the ‘brotherhood’ between himself and Gu Zecheng. Young actor Lin could not understand why after he had woken up from a three-day coma, Gu Zecheng seemed to have changed into a different person and was even willing to let him ‘recognize his ancestors and return to his clan’ in front of outsiders.

But anyway, Lin Zixi could not say, in good conscience, that he did not like this kind of change—who did not want others to be nice to him, let alone that the person was his biological father.

Thus, ignoring his conscience, he softly called his dad with a moved expression, "Brother..."

Dad Gu smiled at him then turned his head to look at Assistant Zhang, "You still haven't notified Chen Yunyun that Zixi is awake?"

So Assistant Zhang withdrew from the atmosphere of ‘showing love and respect as good brothers should’ and went out. When reporting the good news of young actor Lin's awakening to Chen Yunyun, he lamented that Brother Lin had always been very modest and never shown off, but unexpectedly, he was actually Big Boss Gu’s younger brother.

Agent Chen on the other end of the phone sneered in her heart—from the few times she and Gu Zecheng met, even if he was really Lin Zixi's older brother, he was obviously his lover too.

However, even if she was absolutely reluctant and unhappy that the most promising artist under her charge was drawn into the whirlpool of power and sex transaction, now that it was done, she could only strive for Lin Zixi to get maximal benefit from it.

Just like after Feng Yuan returned safely, the whole world was now flooding the Internet with the news of "Lin Zixi was injured when he acted heroically in a just cause".

That's right, an African tribal chief like Lin Zixi just happened to pass by, and his throat got cut by the murderer, leaving him in a coma for three days; while the European royal family like Feng Yuan, as the target of kidnapping, came back unscathed the next evening.

When Lin Zixi saw Feng Yuan and the suddenly-returning Qiu Lianyi come to the hospital to visit him, he was lying if he said he was not jealous of the other party's luck.

A crazy kidnapper who wanted to extort a huge amount of ransom actually had had a heart operation and was too careless not to search the body of the kidnapped person or tie up the person's hands. As a result, the victim woke up and found an opportunity to attack him in revenge with a stun gun, and he was GG on the way to the hospital….

Feng Yuan roughly recounted how he escaped from danger and thanked Lin Zixi, "I learned from the police after I came back that you’ve suffered an injury in order to save me. I’ve written down this kindness. In the future, for any projects that Fengcheng Entertainment starts, as long as you’re interested, there’ll definitely be your role.”

Young actor Lin glanced at Qiu Lianyi, whose subtle return time had been omitted seamlessly from Feng Yuan’s version of account, and could not help but sigh in his heart: Big Boss Feng’s fabricated story was not up to much, but his hush money was unexpectedly very generous….

But since the kidnapper was already dead, Lin Zixi had no interest in investigating the truth behind this, and he did not mind selling Qiu Lianyi a favor.

Thus, he picked up the mobile phone that was returned by Feng Yuan and started typing on it, "You're welcome, President Feng..."

But before Lin Zixi could type the fifth word, Gu Zecheng, who had been standing beside his bed, also glanced at Qiu Lianyi and opened his mouth to say, "You're welcome, President Feng. As long as you know in your heart why Zixi was injured, that will do. There’s no need for this kind of recompense. In the future, if there’re really projects he’s interested in, I’ll naturally help him manage it, so President Feng doesn't have to work hard and trouble himself."

Young actor Lin at once turned his head to look at his dad.

Although his dad was a proper prodigal for refusing resources given willingly and gratuitously, the corners of Lin Zixi's mouth couldn't help but be drawn upward.

He reclined comfortably on the hospital bed and watched Gu Zecheng deal with Feng Yuan for him until he saw off the guests.

However, he still sent a WeChat message to Qiu Lianyi when Gu Zecheng went to close the door, "As long as no one else looking for 'Qiu' comes to trouble me, this matter is over."

Qiu Lianyi's reply was quickly sent out, "Okay. Thank you."

At this time, Gu Zecheng walked back to Lin Zixi's bedside and suddenly asked, "When you and Feng Yuan had an accident, the other party wasn’t asking for money but for that Qiu Lianyi, right?"

Young actor Lin goggled at his dad in astonishment—he had just regained consciousness last night and did not have time to tell anyone about the situation on the night he was attacked.

Dad Gu, seeing his rounded eyes, was amused and scratched his nose lightly, "I'm not as stupid as you. There’re too many gaps in Feng Yuan's story…. That kidnapper was able to stay out of the surveillance of the cameras on the stadium and the road. He’s definitely not an ordinary kidnapper, even..."

He paused and glanced at Lin Zixi's neck before continuing, "Even the wound on your neck…. The other party might’ve deliberately avoided the vital part in order to prolong your suffering, but he had never anticipated that I’d find you and consequently let you be saved."

Lin Zixi was stunned, and his whole body trembled subconsciously. Gu Zecheng immediately held his hand, stroking it ceaselessly as if to soothe him, and only continued speaking after he returned to normal, "Just by relying on Feng Yuan himself, escaping so safely and even causing the other party's death accidentally like what he said are very difficult things to do. The reason why the police 'believed' his testimony is just because the other party was an outlaw, and he was the sole witness, and also... the background of the Feng family."

"In fact, if he and Qiu Lianyi didn’t come today, I’d also believe that it’s just a grievance between the kidnapper and Feng Yuan. But..." Gu Zecheng picked up the mobile phone in Lin Zixi's hand and read the conversation between him and Qiu Lianyi on the screen. "If there’s no secret behind it, Feng Yuan didn't have to be so insistent to seal your mouth, and Qiu Lianyi, who has been missing for a long time and happened to appear at this delicate time, didn't need to come with him to visit you. Not to mention..."

Dad Gu, hating iron for not becoming steel, scratched his son's nose again, "You know Qiu Lianyi is a dangerous person at first glance, but you actually still want to keep the secret for him. And 'this matter is over'?! I was planning to find someone to investigate him."

Lin Zixi laughed mischievously at his dad and typed on his mobile phone, "Forget it... Anyway, the criminal’s already dead, so it’s not important whether he sought money or something else. In fact, the first time I saw Qiu Lianyi, I also thought he’s very dangerous, but after filming together and having been in contact for a long time, I realized that he’s not bad. I don't have many friends in the entertainment circle, and Qiu Lianyi can barely be considered to be one of them. This time can be regarded as going through fire and water to help a friend."

Young actor Lin was magnanimous, but his dad was even more unhappy, "As you like!"

After Gu Zecheng said this sentence, he endured and endured but still couldn't stop himself from making a remark, "You two should stop hyping up that ‘LianXi Fufu’ whatever in the future, lest he’ll involve you again…. If this kind of thing happens again, no matter what kind of demon or ghost he is, I’ll also peel off his painted skin."

Unexpectedly, Dad Gu actually still remembered about ‘LianXi Fufu’. Young actor Lin could not help but feel glad that all kinds of driving-a-car fanworks of this CP had been wiped out for unknown reasons.

Otherwise, in case his dad suddenly had a thought to search it one day…. The image was so beautiful that he simply was going to suffocate.

"Yeah." Lin Zixi softly agreed while thinking to himself.

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