WAM CH47

That evening after wrapping up work, Li Guangzong asked everyone he met: “Have you seen Shao Si? Where did he go? And how long ago is this ‘just now’ of yours? My friend, could you give me a precise direction and time?”

The gaffer pulled aside by him was left somewhat bewildered by his questions: “I… this just now… was probably ten minutes ago? He might have gone toward the east, or maybe the west.”

Saying so, the gaffer pointed hesitantly toward east, south, west, and north before weakly dropping his hand: “I can’t really remember clearly either. Why don’t you ask someone else?”

“Alright, sorry to trouble you,” Li Guangzong had no choice but to accept this harsh reality. He patted the gaffer on the shoulder, “Keep it up, wish you a smooth workday.”

The gaffer rubbed his head and walked away with a bewildered look on his face.

Returning to the car, Li Guangzong pulled out his phone in exasperation to call Shao Si again.

—”Sorry, the subscriber you dialed is powered off. Please try again later, sorry…”

Ah! Seriously! Driven crazy!Dealing with an artist who goes missing every two to three days!What else could he possibly do?

As Li Guangzong stood in the hallway clutching his hair, his phone suddenly rang. His initial instinct was that the kid Shao Si had finally called him back, so he took a deep breath, opened his mouth, and roared: “Where the hell are you, huh?! Do you have any idea…”

However, the words that followed failed to leave his mouth, because from the other end of the line, another familiar voice sounded.

Sitting in his office in his swivel chair, Qi Ming spun himself completely around to face the floor-to-ceiling window, looking down from the seventh floor to take in the surrounding scenery. In a stance overlooking all living beings, he slowed his tone and said, “Guangzong, it’s me.”

Li Guangzong fell silent instantly.

“I thought it over. That day in the conference room, my attitude was indeed not good, and I apologize to you for that.”

Qi Ming’s voice sounded very polite, even somewhat refined, as if he were merely chatting with you cordially in a heart-to-heart: “Don’t blame me either. This isn’t a decision I can make alone. As you know, Shao Si has risen very quickly over the past two years and has always been a key focus of the company’s cultivation. For long-term considerations, accepting Director Ou’s film with a low acting fee was an exception made for him.”

“I know,” Li Guangzong said. “But I thought we had already discussed this matter before. What do you mean by saying all this now?”

Qi Ming stood up from his chair, his silhouette reflected on the glass window looking exceptionally long and thin: “Don’t be nervous. Things I’ve agreed to, I won’t back out on.”

Li Guangzong knew what kind of person Qi Ming was. Today’s phone call could absolutely not be just to have a heart-to-heart with him. Sure enough, Qi Ming’s next sentence completely overturned all his hypocritical politeness from earlier.

“Recently, Shao Si’s scandals have been raging intensely, and the company is very dissatisfied,” Qi Ming said. “I don’t know why you chose such an utterly useless method of handling it…”

Li Guangzong interrupted: “That has nothing to do with you.”

Qi Ming paused: “Fine, looks like I was meddling. But I still want to remind you that in three months, I hope you can turn in a satisfactory answer sheet to the company.”

Li Guangzong didn’t reply, hanging up the phone directly.

However, a few minutes later, the ringtone sounded again.

This time it really was his Daddy Shao, except… the caller ID displayed Gu Yanzhou’s phone number.

Shao Si said right off the bat: “Cub, it’s me. My phone ran out of battery.”

Li Guangzong: “…”

When he made the call to Li Guangzong, he was already prepared to welcome his fury. Who could have expected his cub to act completely out of character today, his tone peaceful: “Oh, where are you?”

Shao Si wrinkled his brow, turning his head to say to Gu Yanzhou: “Are you sure you didn’t dial the wrong number? This tone doesn’t sound quite like him.”

At this moment, Gu Yanzhou was sitting in the passenger seat, extending his arm to press the phone against Shao Si’s ear. Exerting some force with his hand, he pushed Shao Si’s turned face back around: “Didn’t dial wrong. Stop looking and watch the road.”

Li Guangzong also doubted the authenticity of this call, checking the caller ID multiple times: “What’s the situation? What are you two doing?”

Shao Si casually rolled down the car window a bit. The howling night wind instantly swept inside, blowing his hair upright: “Gu Yanzhou and I drove off first. Go home on your own and don’t worry about me… With your Male God Gu around, are you still worried? Do you want me to let him say a few words to you?”

Li Guangzong declined: “No need, thanks. Thanks to you, my trust level in Male God Gu has dropped significantly now.”

Originally, Gu Yanzhou was driving this car, but Shao Si’s hands felt itchy the moment he looked at it.

He guaranteed repeatedly that his driving skills were very good, and even brought up past events, recounting the process of how he “smoothly” drove Gu Yanzhou home after he got drunk that one time.

In the end, Gu Yanzhou was too lazy to listen to Shao Si slander his post-drunk image any further and tossed the car keys straight to him.

While talking to Li Guangzong, the traffic light at the intersection ahead happened to turn red. Shao Si stepped on the brake, slowly bringing the car to a stop, and said to Gu Yanzhou: “How about it? Told you long ago my driving skills were good.”

Gu Yanzhou narrowed his eyes, sizing him up top to bottom, before ruthlessly exposing him in the end: “Did you forget about your speeding ten minutes ago?”

Li Guangzong heard their conversation in its entirety, not knowing what to say into the receiver.

Without realizing when it started, the relationship between these two had become extraordinarily harmonious… and rumors were growing more and more frequent.

After a while, Li Guangzong finally said: “Don’t come back too late. There are still scenes tomorrow morning. Exercise proper restraint and watch out for paparazzi.”

Shao Si: “Cub, what’s wrong with you? You sound like you’re in a bad mood.”

“I’m fine.” Li Guangzong walked down the stairs, standing at the staircase landing and looking back. The set after wrapping up work looked like a shop after closing hours, equipment laid out haphazardly everywhere—cables, blowers, props, spotlights…

Shao Si didn’t overthink it either: “Alright then, I’m hanging up. Get some rest early.”

Li Guangzong opened his mouth, but ultimately said nothing at all.

The sky had darkened completely.

Although Shao Si had remembered to report his itinerary to his manager this time, he didn’t tell him what he was actually going to do either. It wasn’t that he was deliberately hiding it from Li Guangzong; it was just that if he let him know about this matter, he’d guaranteed go crazy.

To protect his manager’s fragile little heart, it was better to tell him about this after returning.

“Almost there,” Gu Yanzhou instructed after spotting a landmark building ahead. “Turn left up ahead and park.”

Shao Si turned the steering wheel half a turn and veered in as directed: “Is it that one up ahead… called ‘Zuisheng Mengsi’?”

“Yes.”

Zuisheng Mengsi [1] was a gay nightclub funded and opened by Wang Shan. It had been operating for quite a few years, originally built on the east side, but moved its flagship location here a few years ago because the financial district in this area developed faster.

Such places of pleasure and entertainment were not easy to run, especially with the country’s strict crackdowns in recent years. However, Wang Shan had a powerful background in his family, so Zuisheng Mengsi only grew increasingly prosperous.

“I looked into it. The dates Wang Shan comes here to inspect every month follow a predictable pattern—on average three to four times a month, with the beginning and end of the month being fixed days.” Gu Yanzhou unbuckled his seatbelt, warning Shao Si once more before stepping out of the car: “Have you thought it through? Once you step inside later, there’s no turning back.”

Shao Si didn’t answer directly; he simply took off his coat, revealing the Lisa-brand wide-collared sweater underneath, opened the door, and stepped out first.

From Gu Yanzhou’s angle, the V-neck sweater Shao Si wore opened wide. Though he looked slender, he didn’t appear weak at all, and that exposed fair skin dazzled the eyes to the point of making one’s heart itch. He heard Shao Si answer him without an ounce of hesitation: “Thought it through.”

The strategy they had hashed out this time was extremely simple: since Wang Shan had already targeted Shao Si, they would let Shao Si gradually walk into his line of sight.

Before going in, Shao Si repeated the script and character setup: “You and I pretend to be a couple… tease Wang Shan’s appetite. Wang Shan can’t do anything to me for the time being, so next he’ll definitely find a way to invest in Mask to seek an opportunity to get close to me.”

Wang Shan initially wanting to invest in Mask was indeed because he fancied Shao Si, but it wasn’t as if Shao Si was indispensable to him either. Thus, after being rejected, he didn’t pursue negotiations any further. To tell the honest truth, what kind of person couldn’t someone like him get? For Shao Si, it really wasn’t worth the hassle.

Having him take the initiative to lean in again was their ultimate objective.

The idea of pretending to be a couple was actually quite risky, but aside from this excuse, they couldn’t think of a second reason to enter this “gay nightclub.”

Furthermore, this Zuisheng Mengsi owned by Wang Shan had the primary feature of extreme confidentiality. After all, the gay community was still relatively secretive, and many people did not wish to expose their identity.

Gu Yanzhou merely looked at him and asked again: “Have you really thought it through?”

Shao Si didn’t answer, resting his chin on his hand as he countered: “Then what should I call you… Yanzhou? Brother Zhou?”

Gu Yanzhou locked fingers with his hand. Wearing masks, the two walked inside with hands clasped: “Call me husband.”

This joke caught Shao Si completely off guard. He froze first, and then somehow—perhaps because Gu Yanzhou’s deep, resonant voice was far too seductive—the tips of his ears miraculously began to burn. To cover up his unnatural reaction, he feigned composure and sneered: “Dream on. Aren’t our positions as top and bottom reversed? What kind of misunderstanding do you have about me? I’m absolutely the one on top, alright? Want to see my abs? Eight packs.”

Gu Yanzhou shot him a glance: “Eight packs? Yours count?”

—Shao Si was just short of pulling up his sweater to prove his innocence.

Yet completely without warning, Gu Yanzhou took his hand and proactively led it underneath his own hemline.

Shao Si’s fingers directly touched the well-defined, rock-hard abdominal muscles on Gu Yanzhou’s stomach.

“…”

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Translator’s Note:

[1] Zuisheng Mengsi (醉生夢死): Literally means “To lead a confused life as if drunk or dreaming” / “Drunk with dreams and dying with desires.”