QT: LAC Chapter 19: Second World (5)

Chapter 19: Second World (5)

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Sulo

 

After lunch, Bai Duan and Fu Shaohua were reluctant to part from the personas of ‘Golden Lord’ and ‘Baby Star’ for a while.

Next, Fu Shaohua had to rush to prepare for an announcement. This was the first time that he would be appearing in public ever since his name had been washed clean. Zheng Mingze attached great importance to it, as this appearance would decide whether Fu Shaohua’s future road in the entertainment circle would be smooth or not.

Fu Shaohua seemed to be very dedicated to being an actor. Although Bai Duan felt it was somewhat inexplicable, he was not going to hinder his lover from pursuing his dreams.

Thirdly, Bai Duan emphasized that Fu Shaohua should move in to his villa after the announcement. He then sent his lover away, went back to bed to rest, opened his portable notebook, and started sorting out his own assets.

Bai Duan was still in college. Although he could not be called a qualified student, he was still a successful person with considerable assets.

Compared with the Bai family, who were all commercial geniuses and extremely sensitive to numbers, Bai Duan’s talent was skewed from an early age and developed in the direction of history and culture. When he was a child, he had an inexplicably strong vision of identifying antiquities. He often read the ancient Chinese books kept in his father’s study to impress him, which made the Bai family amazed.

Old Man Bai had given the company to Father Bai early on, and retired to care for his old age. On the one hand, old people liked to collect antique jade besides gazing at flowers, and on the other hand, besides liking it, this also reflected their wealth and culture. 

As a result, when Bai Duan showed his talent for identifying antiquities, he suddenly became Old Man Bai’s favorite grandson. At a young age, Old Man Bai often took him to antique fairs to exercise his eyesight, or to attend gatherings of some old collectors to listen to the experience and instruction of others.

Under the cultivation of Old Man Bai, Bai Duan’s understanding of antique jades grew a thousand miles. Within a few years, Bai Duan made a name for himself among the group of old collectors. Everyone knew that Old Man Bai had a grandson with extraordinary vision, which attracted the envy of many old people.

Bai Duan not only had a unique vision but also had a very skillful hand. At the age of ten, he secretly carved a pine crane from a tree root and gave it to the old man as a birthday gift, which immediately left him amazed.

This root carving was now placed in Old Man Bai’s study, and he would show it off to everybody. Of course, after receiving the root carving, Old Man Bai, although happy, still secretly sought out Father Bai, Mother Bai, and Big Brother Bai and scolded them, dissatisfied that they were always busy with their work and didn’t even know that their ten-year-old son used so many dangerous tools.

Nowadays, Bai Duan was a famous collector and connoisseur. Although young, his brilliant achievements were compelling, and others often invited Bai Duan to look at their items. Bai Duan would occasionally take his pocket money to buy antiquities. Besides, the jade carvings he made were invaluable and had no market price. His small vault had doubled several times, but was totally unnecessary since spending his family’s money made him feel more at home.

After calculating his own savings, he found that it was more than enough to keep a lover. Bai Duan was instantly satisfied as he didn’t care much about material things. All the designer clothes he wore were customized by Father Bai, Mother Bai, and big brother. After all, even if Bai Duan didn’t care, the Bai family couldn’t have Bai Duan appear too unkempt when he went out. But Bai Duan seldom bought anything for himself.

But now, he had a star as a lover. It was said that stars make money and burn money. The cost of grabbing one was already a large sum, which was more critical than many wealthy people who lived haphazardly.

His lover, of course, had to pay for his own support, not to mention, Bai Duan also wanted to help him fulfill his wishes. So to make Fu Shaohua famous as soon as possible, he would naturally need to spend a lot of money to raise him and invest in movies and television for him.

Bai Duan had no experience in investing in movies and TV dramas, but he could learn from Hu Bin. Hu Bin’s pocket money was basically spent on investing in film and television works, and while he earned more and lost less, although he was not proficient, he was still more familiar with it then Bai Duan.

Bai Duan pulled out his mobile phone, wanting to call Hu Bin, but had not even dialed when he received his eldest brother’s call.

Big Brother Bai had learned about what happened last night through Big Brother Hu. On the one hand, he marveled at his brother’s mobility, on the other hand, although he knew he should not intervene into his brother’s private life, he was still worried and so after struggling for hours, he chose to finally give his brother a call.

When he heard Bai Duan’s voice on the phone, elder brother Bai was quietly relieved. Although he had been busy studying and working all the time, he still watched his younger brother grow up. He could tell Bai Duan’s mood just by the tone of his voice.  

Obviously, his younger brother was in a good mood, one that he seldom saw in the past century. Big Brother Bai also relaxed his mind and expressed his desire to meet him.

Although his body was still a little uncomfortable, Bai Duan seldom refused a family member’s request, so he immediately agreed to go down and take a bus to the building where the Bai’s head office was located.

As soon as he entered the door, Big Brother Bai found that Bai Duan had a slightly stiff pace and frowned, “What’s wrong with your waist?”

“It hurts a little.” Bai Duan answered honestly and sat quite unnaturally on a soft sofa.

“Why does it hurt at a young age? Is it a bad kidney?” Big Brother Bai never thought of another possibility. After all, although his younger brother was beautiful and weak in appearance, he was also a boy who liked sports. His character was not weak, and no one could take the initiative against him in any way; he was also a heterosexual like Fu Shaohua, who was probably the passive party in bed. There would be danger in trying to be counter-offensive. “Wait and let Mrs. Liu help you with a medicinal diet. This problem can’t be neglected.”

Virgin Bai Duan did not know much about this aspect and naturally did not refute, but obediently nodded. He thought it may be that he did have some type of kidney deficiency.

After talking about his brother’s physical condition, Big Brother Bai coughed a little, and his tone was serious, “Last night… how’d it go?”

Bai Duan blinked his eyes, and his expression was as serious as ever, “Very good. No wonder Hu Bin enjoys doing this kind of thing so much. It really feels very comfortable,” he said, laughing involuntarily.

Big Brother Bai stroked a corner of his mouth and scolded Hu Bin in his mind. He thought that the other had spoiled his clean brother, but he could not deny one fact, “Well, it seems that you’re relaxed. It is also necessary to vent properly, which is beneficial to physical and mental health.”

“Really?” Bai Duan leaned sideways, “I just… I feel motivated.”

“That’s good.” Big Brother Bai had to admit that his younger brother was much more alive, after finding a lover, than before. “Are you going to live with Fu Shaohua like this? I heard you asked him to move to your villa?”

“Un, yes.” Bai Duan nodded without hesitation.

Big Brother Bai’s lips fell. Although his younger brother was so determined, he did not think much of this relationship. Bai Duan and Fu Shaohua were far from each other in social status. Their habits and interests could not match each other, and being an actor was a busy profession. They were required to travel all over the country and even across the globe, staying less and leaving more.

Fu Shaohua still had unresolved knots that would occasionally need to be suppressed, but, after a long time, it would inevitably create contradictions. Big Brother Bai didn’t care about Fu Shaohua. He was only worried that his brother, who wanted to manage this relationship simply and seriously, would be hurt.

Of course, Big Brother Bai would not mention these concerns to Bai Duan. As a qualified brother, he would only silently help his brother remove any obstacles.

“Just be happy.” Big Brother Bai nodded slightly, then took out a folder from the drawer, stood up, went to the sofa and sat down.

“What is this?” Bai Duan took over the folder, turned it over, and was stunned, “This is for Fu Shaohua?”

“To be exact, it’s for you.” Big Brother Bai looked up. “Although our family has little to do with the entertainment industry, it has a close relationship with many big brands and knows many investors. It is not difficult to have several endorsements and roles. If you think Fu Shaohua is good, just pick some for him.” After a pause, Big Brother Bai tried to make his attitude less market-oriented and indifferent. “Although feelings should not be linked to interests, occasionally giving the other party some badly needed gifts is also the right way to enhance their feelings.”

Seeing these benefits, Fu Shaohua should know to follow Bai Duan even if he was foolish. As long as he did not accept Bai Duan’s grace, he would not have the qualifications.

Bai Duan did not understand his eldest brother’s cruel calculation hidden under the appearance of kindness. He would naturally not refuse to help his family’s good faith. Smiling, Bai Duan nodded, “Okay, I understand. Thank you, Big Brother. Speaking of it, I was going to ask Hu Bin about investing in movies and TV dramas before I came. I’m going to learn it well.”

Hearing this answer, Big Brother Bai’s feelings were somewhat complicated.

Bai Duan had no desire, and seldom found interest in anything. Even when he was a child, he learned the knowledge of antique jade, but did not show any affection for it. Instead, it was more like he was learning something to amuse himself.

After a single night with Fu Shaohua, he wanted to learn how to invest in movies and TV dramas. Obviously, Big Brother Bai did not like Fu Shaohua in general.

Just as the so-called ‘elder brother is like father,’ Big Brother Bai had a sense of vicissitudes of the life of ‘married daughter, spilled water’, but he clearly had a younger brother!

“You seldom take the initiative to learn something, or have an eye for someone.” Big Brother Bai sighed, and his tone was regretful. “It seems that Fu Shaohua must have been… last night…well, whatever makes you happy.”

Bai Duan was stunned for a moment, then suddenly recalled Fu Shaohua’s ambiguous and ridiculous sentence he had whispered in his ear, ‘How was my performance last night? Was it good for you?’ Suddenly, his ears flushed red.

Moving away from sight slightly, Bai Duan’s tone was calm, but on the contrary, he had the desire to cover up more, “What pleasure and unhappiness, it’s…not much.”

It was rare to see his younger brother being awkward, Big Brother Bai felt that it was quite a novel sight. He couldn’t help wanting to amuse himself, “Since it’s not much, can he give back the endorsement and roles?”

“… It’s mine.” Bai Duan silently squeezed the folder in his hand a little tighter, and with his neck scrunched a little, he stressed, “If he does well, I’ll give it to him.”

Big Brother Bai couldn’t help laughing as he raised his hand and rubbed his brother’s head. For the first time, he found out that his brother was still an arrogant man with a wicked tongue. This kind of knowledge, which was something the general person wouldn’t know, made him want to share it with his family very much.

Bai Duan was laughed at by Big Brother Bai. Uncomfortable, he rubbed against the sofa and hummed softly. He got up awkwardly, “Big Brother, if it’s all right, I’ll go first. On the way over, I made an appointment with Hu Bin.”

“Well, yes, go ahead.” Brother Bai waved his hand, watched his brother leave, and then called his mother.

After listening to her eldest son’s report, Mother Bai was also excited. She could not wait to see her youngest son’s arrogant appearance, but then Father Bai dissuaded her from the side.

After all, Bai Duan and Fu Shaohua had just met each other, and there were some deviations in their development. They should not intervene too early to avoid further contradictions.

Although Mother Bai was happy with the change of her younger son, she was still not sure about Fu Shaohua. In other words, she did not agree with Fu Shaohua from the bottom of her heart. She only reluctantly kept silent to make her younger son happy.

Neither she nor Father Bai were fit to interfere in the affairs of the younger generation. After all, once the older generation appeared, the nature of the matter would change substantially. But as a peer, Big Brother Bai could occasionally support his younger brother, ‘warn’ that little star, pinch him in front of Bai Duan for good measure to remind him to not cause any trouble.

For Mother Bai’s task, elder brother Bai would naturally not refuse. In other words, even if Mother Bai had not made a request, Big Brother Bai would still make it a must to meet Fu Shaohua, who had changed his brother and was so valued by his brother, and have a good talk with him.

Only by meeting each other in person would Big Brother Bai be able to judge whether this man was suitable for his brother and whether he could bring happiness rather than harm to Bai Duan.