Chapter 7: Endorsement
Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Karai
By this time, the sky was nearly dark. People were constantly entering and exiting the community, and a group of young boys excitedly pointed and shouted, “Wow, look at that car! It’s so cool!”
Shi Wenze smiled at the comment, knowing he couldn’t miss the perfect opportunity to show off his fatherly affection in front of Lin Su. He held the handlebars with one hand and slightly turned his body. The boys screamed and rushed past him like a group of lively little birds, flapping their wings and not leaving a trace of motorcycle oil behind. A Lamborghini boldly parked by the side of the road.
Shi Wenze, “… “
Lin Su really recognized the flashy sports car. He walked up and knocked on the window, “Du Siyue.”
“What’s up? I’ve been calling you, but you didn’t pick up.” A cool guy with a crew cut lowered the window. “Here, take the keys. For now, drive this big bull. My Ferrari? I need it back; a buddy of mine is getting married, and we need to form a car crew.”
Your Ferrari was currently parked safely on the third underground level of Digital City. Lin Su didn’t take the car keys. “I’ll drop it off at the car wash tomorrow and give it back to you the day after. I won’t need this car, I haven’t been going out much recently.”
“Just keep it, it’s not like it’s doing anything else.” Du Siyue got out of the car and put his arm around Lin Su’s shoulder as they walked into the community. “I’ll stop by your place to use the bathroom. Hey, there’s a guy on a motorcycle who’s been staring at us. Do you think he recognized me?”
Lin Su shrugged his arm off, “No one recognized you, that’s my friend.”
“Really?” Du Siyue glanced back.
Shi Wenze was also looking at him. When the wind blew, his open jacket fluttered, his black hair a bit messy, and his eyes cold, making him look like a brooding, untouchable superstar from a chaotic era.
Du Siyue couldn’t help but mutter, “Your friend’s got this creepy, serial killer vibe, he looks just like Jiang Yuhao.”
Jiang Yuhao was the top pick from a talent show two years ago and is now a popular celebrity. Du Siyue was one of his fellow trainees. A rich second-generation who dreamed of entering the entertainment industry, Du Siyue had tried to make his mark but was quickly eliminated by the judges, even before his family’s money could help. His failure became a classic meme, “I’m not Li Jie,” widely circulated on the internet. He often made fun of the champion, Jiang Yuhao.
Lin Su couldn’t care less about that love-hate relationship from the competition days. He said, “You’re the one who looks like a serial killer.”
“I was just making a comparison,” Du Siyue dismissed him, then walked straight over to Shi Wenze. “Nice modification on the bike. I’m also Lin Su’s friend, what should I call you?”
“Shi Wenze.”
“My name’s Du Siyue.”
He circled the motorcycle twice, then gave Shi Wenze a thumbs-up. “The color is amazing, bro, I’ve got to say, you’ve got great taste.”
Seeing Du Siyue’s social skills go into overdrive, Lin Su couldn’t stand it anymore and stepped in to hurry him along, “Do you still need the bathroom?”
“Alright, I’ll go to your place first.” Du Siyue jingled the keys. “You sure you don’t want to keep the big bull? Got it, you want something more low-key, huh? I’ll bring out my Porsche tomorrow and trade it for the Ferrari. I think there’s even a Maybach in the garage, my dad’s, just a bit old.”
Shi Wenze maintained his cold, superstar demeanor, but he couldn’t help feeling a bit numb. After all, despite the similar height and age, Du Siyue casually listed off car names like they were menu items, while he himself had only fixed annual leave and the basic five insurance benefits.
Lin Su got Du Siyue inside the gate and turned back to ask Shi Wenze, “Want to come in for a bit?”
“No need, you should get some rest.” Shi Wenze handed him his phone. “I’ll pick you up tomorrow. We’ll chat on WeChat tonight.”
Lin Su nodded. “Okay.”
Shi Wenze put on his helmet and rode off from Qinghu Garden. Just as he reached the front gate, he ran into the delivery guy bringing food. The guy held seven boxes of rice in one hand and two dry pots in the other, managing to make even the simplest job look like a battlefield cook’s routine.
“Shi Ge, wait a second, all this is from your order.”
“… “
Xu You’s original form had been a Chizhi (a type of mythical Chinese creature), but Shi Wenze always felt like the guy had some gluttonous blood in him—otherwise, why did his appetite keep spiking? He dropped the food on the desk with a thud. “Next time you order this many takeout boxes, at least leave your own name.”
“Didn’t you notice?” Xu You pulled out chopsticks. “At this ‘Mei Mei Mei’ street stall, whenever they see your name on the order, they always throw in two extra cans of sugar-free cola. The boss probably has a thing for you.”
Shi Wenze wasn’t in the mood to listen to his nonsense. He moved the chair over. “I saw a modified Lamborghini on the road today.”
“Lamborghini?” Xu You focused on gnawing on a duck head. “That car’s really flashy.”
Shi Wenze asked, “Aren’t you going to stop me?”
“Come on, I know how much money you’ve got.” What Lamborghini? It’s laughable, I can barely afford a used Ferrari after an accident. “We can manage to get a second-hand one, but Lamborghini? Go ahead, look all you want.”
Shi Wenze: “Damn.” Not even qualified for a loan?
“Shi Ge, seriously, if you really want to buy a luxury car, why not just go make some connections?” Xu You finished gnawing on a duck head and then a rabbit head, eating at a speed comparable to a master of clearing the table. “The stars on TV, I don’t think any of them are better-looking than you, especially that Xia Jiayang trending lately—he’s nowhere near as good-looking as you.”
Xia Jiayang. Shi Wenze’s radar flickered. It was time to brush up on the details. He turned his computer screen toward himself, and sure enough, the top trending topic had “#Xia Jiayang endorsing HOM#.”
At that moment, his phone rang. It was Lin Su calling. He sat on the couch, looking at his younger sister, who was sitting in front of him, eyes wide and hands clasped in anticipation. He felt deeply that nine years of mandatory education had its failures.
When Shi Wenze didn’t speak after a while, Lin Lu, his sister, started shaking the cushion she was hugging, looking like a groundhog on drugs. Lin Su had no choice but to put the phone on speaker. “Are you free right now?”
“Yeah, I just got home.” Shi Wenze was standing outside the store. “What’s up?”
“Nothing much, but my sister wanted to ask,” Lin Su paused, “How did you know that Xia Jiayang was going to endorse HOM? There wasn’t any news about it before, and the fan group is shocked.”
Shi Wenze was also surprised. Was this really such a big secret? How did Lan Weiwei know Xia Jiayang was going to endorse HOM? She always claimed she wasn’t interested in any of those second-tier celebrities, but in the end, she knew more than the fans did. She was quite the star-chasing phenomenon. At the same time, Shi Wenze wondered why even Lin Su’s sister was interested in Xia Jiayang.
“Hello?” Lin Su looked at his phone screen, hesitating. “Are you listening?”
“Yeah,” Shi Wenze snapped back to reality. He could’ve lied and just said something like he saw it in a random Weibo comment section, but for some reason tonight, maybe it was because of the Lamborghini, he felt like he needed to show a little more uniqueness. So, he said, “Hmm, I happen to have a friend who knows.”
Lin Lu squeezed the cushion tighter. I knew it, there’s definitely some inside connection.
Lin Su asked again, “Could you invite your friend to the gathering tomorrow?”
That wasn’t appropriate! Shi Wenze remembered Lan Weiwei’s tone when she commented on second-tier celebrities and felt that if she showed up, it might clash with Xia Jiayang’s hardcore fans and cause a huge scandal.
“She’s on a business trip in Beijing,” he said.
“Really?” Lin Su said, gritting his teeth, unable to help himself because his arm was nearly being squeezed off by Lin Lu. He fought through the pain and kept his cool tone, reading from the phone screen, “Well, do you have any inside information? Is HOM going to sponsor him on the cover of Style magazine?”
Wait, what’s Style? Shi Wenze wasn’t familiar with this field outside of Lan Weiwei’s tutoring sessions, so he replied, “Maybe, I’ll check on that.”
On the other end of the line, Lin Lu cheered. She was so ecstatic about the “maybe” that she turned from a drugged-out groundhog into a happy one. She rushed over to the phone and shouted, “Thank you, Bro!”
Lin Su was knocked in the chest by her enthusiasm, and helplessly said, “Be careful.”
His words were soft, with no reprimand—just complete indulgence from a brother to a sister, with a hint of a smile. Shi Wenze thought that this might have been the first time Lin Su had smiled since they reunited. The guy didn’t often show emotions, always appearing cold and distant, so when he did smile, it carried weight.
“See you tomorrow at two in the afternoon.” Lin Su sat up. “Little Lu will drive herself. She needs to go early to set up.”
“Okay,” Shi Wenze replied. “I’ll pick you up then.”
After hanging up, Lin Lu snuggled up to Lin Su, wrapping her arm around his. “Bro, I knew it! That’s why you suddenly want to go to a fan meet-up, you’re bringing us good news!”
Lin Su’s feelings were complicated. On one hand, he thought, How did my sister get tricked so easily? Who knew who she’d end up with later, some jerk. On the other hand, he reflected on himself—pretending to care when he just wanted to pull Shi Wenze around. Wasn’t that behavior just as bad as a jerk? To make up for the guilt, he transferred some pocket money to his little sister, so she could buy more Xia Jiayang merchandise.
Meanwhile, Shi Wenze was riding his motorcycle, not even bothering to finish the dry pot Xu You ordered, speeding past the speed limit straight to an old house on Yushuang Street. “Lan Weiwei!”
The girl appeared on the balcony in a spaghetti strap, with her hair in curlers and a toothbrush in her mouth, looking every bit like a landlady.
Shi Wenze leaned against the wall. “Emergency help.”
Lan Weiwei, “…”
Three hours later, Shi Wenze returned, fully loaded. The term “fully loaded” had a double meaning. First, he had thoroughly explored the vast ocean of knowledge again. Second, Lan Weiwei, in exchange for the monster coins, had urgently gathered a batch of Xia Jiayang merchandise for him—everything from posters to badges, from magazines to autographs—diverse and abundant. Shi Wenze flipped through the items for a moment, and audaciously questioned their value. “These things look completely worthless.”
Lan Weiwei sneered. “Don’t worry, these are all good stuff. You won’t find anything like this on the market.”
In that instant, Shi Wenze had the thought of bringing her back to the station for a drug test—her tone was more professional than that of most drug dealers.
That night, Xu You had eaten too much dry pot and was feeling bloated, unable to sleep. Seeing that the bedroom door across the hall was wide open, he slipped on his slippers and went to visit.
He had originally thought that Shi Wenze might have had a change of heart, maybe remembering that he needed to finish writing the “Guidelines for Actively Promoting the Adoption of New Security Equipment to Accelerate the Construction of a Civilized and Orderly Shanhai Society,” so he’d be typing away late into the night. But to his surprise, Shi Wenze was looking at celebrity posters and, under the cover of darkness, had secretly filled the entire room with them. Xu You was speechless, feeling like he was looking at the person before him and seeing Aunt Wang across the street, who was obsessed with Jin Dong.
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