Novel schedule on pause, Rain ran awaaaaaay ! See you next week, to resume some series !!

REI : Chapter 74.2

 

The success of Luo Ding’s signing event caught the attention of many, including Tang Rui, the director of *Supermodel*, the upcoming film Luo Ding was set to star in.

 

For the first time, before the film had even begun shooting, news about it had spread like wildfire. Positive buzz had been building, but now, Luo Ding’s announcement at the signing event—where he revealed he would be playing the lead in his first major role—had his fans in a frenzy. They immediately began working to promote the film on their own, spreading the word far and wide.

 

Fans were particularly excited about two things: Luo Ding playing the lead role and the fact that Duan Xiubo would also be involved.

 

While Luo Ding had already made a name for himself, starring in three films since his debut, all his roles had been supporting ones. Although the scale of each project had grown, with his latest role even landing him in Hollywood, playing a supporting role always limited his potential. Fans who had been following his career were eager for him to take on a leading role in a film that truly belonged to him.

 

As the buzz surrounding the signing event grew, Tang Rui found himself inundated with invitations from various TV shows. Despite his years in the industry, he was left feeling overwhelmed by the sheer volume of attention Luo Ding was generating.

 

Su Shengbai, observing all of this, couldn’t help but feel conflicted. “Luo Ding, why didn’t you mention me?”

 

“What?”

 

“You only talked about collaborating with Duan Xiubo. I’m the one who has the most scenes with you.”

 

Luo Ding looked at him, and the anxiety and frustration in Su Shengbai’s eyes were all too clear. Luo Ding had intentionally avoided mentioning his name, even going so far as to sidestep any references to Su Shengbai altogether. Still, when face-to-face, Luo Ding offered a polite, albeit somewhat distant, explanation, “The script was provided by the company. I can’t just make changes on my own.”

 

Su Shengbai didn’t believe him. He sensed that Luo Ding had been pulling away from him ever since the red carpet incident at the media music event. Everything seemed to have changed, and there was no going back.

 

Filled with regret, Su Shengbai grabbed the corner of Luo Ding’s jacket, pleading, “Are you really not going to give me another chance?”

 

A wave of disgust surged within Luo Ding. Gently pulling his jacket free, he smiled politely but with no warmth, “Shengbai, opportunities are something you create for yourself.”

 

As Luo Ding walked away, Su Shengbai stood there, seething with anger, yet utterly powerless.

 

Luo Ding had risen so high in the industry that he was now untouchable. Despite their shared history, many saw Su Shengbai as the one who had betrayed Luo Ding. Any attempts to use their past to garner attention would only backfire, and if Su Shengbai tried to rekindle their connection, the public would likely crucify him for it.

 

Moreover, even Su Shengbai had to admit that Luo Ding wasn’t in the wrong. 

 

Opportunities were created by oneself.

 

As those words echoed in his mind, Su Shengbai couldn’t help but think back to Luo Ding’s long period of struggle after they had parted ways. Luo Ding’s meteoric rise afterward—had it been motivated by this same belief?

 

Su Shengbai wiped his eyes, realizing there were no tears. He wasn’t nearly as upset as he thought he should be.

 

Instead, his heart was filled with a prickly, simmering frustration. He had come too far to give up now.

 

******

 

Duan Xiubo wrapped up filming in mid-March. Despite the lingering chill in the air, nothing could dampen his elation as he returned to what had essentially become his home: the apartment he shared with Luo Ding. Using Luo Ding’s credit card, Duan Xiubo flopped onto the bed, rolling around gleefully.

 

This was heaven!

 

The pillow smelled like Luo Ding. He hugged it tightly.

 

The blankets smelled like Luo Ding too. He snuggled into them.

 

Even the bed itself had traces of Luo Ding’s scent—it was all his, all his!

 

Cuddling the pillow and blankets, Duan Xiubo fell into a deep, drooling sleep. When Luo Ding finally arrived and slapped him awake, Duan Xiubo’s groggy eyes met Luo Ding’s sharp gaze.

 

Duan Xiubo blinked sleepily.

 

Luo Ding stared at the puddle of drool on the bedspread, horrified by Duan Xiubo’s disheveled appearance.

 

With a grimace, Luo Ding snapped, “Go sleep in the guest room. Why are you in my bed when there’s a perfectly good guest room?”

 

Duan Xiubo pouted, “Why should I sleep in the guest room? I’m not a guest!”

 

Luo Ding glared at him, but Duan Xiubo stood his ground, staring back stubbornly. 

 

He wasn’t a guest!

 

Faced with Duan Xiubo’s resolute gaze, Luo Ding eventually relented, sighing, “Fine, fine. But if you’re going to sleep here, stop drooling all over the place.”

 

Now that Luo Ding was back, Duan Xiubo couldn’t stay asleep any longer, even though he wasn’t particularly tired. He immediately hopped out of bed and followed Luo Ding around like a shadow.

 

He had missed Luo Ding so much during their time apart.

 

Duan Xiubo had been both anxious and excited when he heard about Luo Ding’s signing event while overseas. Luo Ding had even mentioned him during the event, without a word about Su Shengbai. This left Duan Xiubo feeling victorious, as if he had triumphed over an impending crisis.

 

However, Luo Ding’s fan club leader had publicly recounted how Luo Ding had recognized her, thanked her, and smiled at her so adorably. Duan Xiubo, stewing with jealousy, had to bite his tongue to keep from logging into his “Alessandro” account to start a fight.

 

 But in the end, he couldn’t bring himself to quarrel with Luo Ding’s fans. Instead, he swallowed his resentment.

 

“All the media keeps talking about how beautiful your fans are,” Duan Xiubo complained. “I saw the video too, and they really are. You weren’t even a little tempted?”

 

Luo Ding was cracking an egg into a frying pan when his hand paused mid-air. Beautiful? His mind drifted to the sparkling eyes of the fan club leader, which hadn’t been hidden by her mask.

 

She was pretty.

 

A short video clip of the fan club’s public relations team handing out gifts had gone viral online. Various media outlets had spliced together footage of at least fifty fans—both male and female—all of them young, smiling, polite, and gracious as they handed out gifts, expressing their hope that the media would take care of Luo Ding at his first signing event.

 

The people chosen for this task were all well-dressed, and no one was less than attractive. Combined with the previous “exposed fan identities” incident, this video had left many people with the impression that Luo Ding’s fans weren’t ordinary.

 

They were wealthy, beautiful, polite, and adept at public relations.

 

Everything they did was perfectly calculated.

 

Even in a crisis, they handled everything with finesse. Though they could be high-profile at times, they never fought with innocent bystanders and were unerringly clear about what was right and wrong.

 

The term “mother fan” had never seemed more fitting. Previously, people had known this kind of fan existed, but now, seeing a group of youthful, attractive people paving the way for their idol with such skill, the contrast with the typical image of irrational fans was stark. Many people couldn’t help but feel a sense of admiration.

 

Fans’ actions reflected on their idols, and Luo Ding was reaping the rewards of having such dedicated followers.

 

Luo Ding chuckled to himself as he recalled the fan club leader’s flustered dash off the stage, a hint of regret flickering in his mind.

 

He really should have shaken her hand—it had just slipped his mind at the time.

 

When Duan Xiubo got no response from him and saw him smiling, he didn’t dare push any further. He had vented his frustrations and decided to drop it, pointing to a cupboard instead. “I want the pickled mustard-flavored noodles with two eggs. Do we still have any sausages?”

 

“In the pantry. Get it yourself.”

 

Duan Xiubo grumbled and wandered off to find the noodles. A moment later, his voice echoed from the other room, “Hey, where did you get this embroidery? It’s really well done. Is this from that summer photo last year? It’s pretty accurate.”

 

Luo Ding cracked another egg into the pan, the sound of the shell splitting crisp and clear. He smiled faintly to himself.

 

*****

 

While some basked in happiness, others found themselves steeped in regret.

 

Su Shengbai, having accepted his role in *Supermodel*, returned to Xu Zhen’s villa in the suburbs for the first time in a while, feeling much less anxious than he had before. Relying on Xu Zhen used to weigh on him heavily, but now that their relationship had soured, he actually felt more at ease. He was doing fine on his own.

 

Look at him now—he’d even landed a good role in a promising film!

 

Outwardly, the movie was slated to start filming soon, but Su Shengbai knew better than anyone just how challenging it had been behind the scenes. Financing was still a major hurdle.

 

Even though the filming set had already been partially constructed, production had come to a standstill. Earlier, when Huanyu had pressured Xu Zhen to organize an audition event, it had likely been in exchange for funding. Now, with the audition falling through, Huanyu had pulled back.

 

The investment from Cao Dingkun had passed through Huanyu’s hands, and those old sharks were not about to let Xu Zhen spend it as he pleased.

 

Staring into the dark villa, Su Shengbai listened as a caretaker whispered to him that Xu Zhen was in a foul mood. He smiled slightly, pulled out his phone to discreetly start a recording, and walked inside without knocking.


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inner child
inner child
27 days ago

thank you for the chapter 🤗

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