FIMA Ch26: Today [Arc 2]

S City, Cuilin Grand Hotel.

In the luxurious presidential suite, Gu Siyuan had just regained some consciousness when he felt a slender and flexible body suddenly fall into his arms. Fortunately, he grabbed the door frame in time to steady himself.

A muffled voice filled with glee came from the doorway, “Sir, please enjoy yourself!”

At this moment, Gu Siyuan’s head was in a mess, aching so much it felt like it was going to explode, and he had to mind the person in his arms. When he looked up again to ask something, there was no trace of anyone at the door.

In a daze, he closed the room door and dragged the person in his arms to the bed.

According to the system, each time he transmigrated into a world, there would be such a rejection reaction between his soul and body, but this reaction seemed unusually intense.

At that moment, the cold and slippery body in his arms suddenly rubbed against him desperately.

Perhaps it was because he was really uncomfortable, or maybe the cold sensation of the person in his arms was too alluring. So, with his eyes closed, Gu Siyuan instinctively reached out and touched a few times.

The next moment, an enticing voice came to his ear, “Hmm, uhh, ah…”

These few sounds instantly cleared Gu Siyuan’s muddled head.

Pressing two fingers against his temples, he sat up, but was startled by the heat on his forehead. The burning sensation in his breath confirmed it: his body was running a high fever.

No wonder the reaction was so severe this time.

Squinting, he walked to the room’s closet and searched, finding a small medical kit. He took out some fever-reducing medicine and swallowed it with bottled water.

Whether it was psychological or the medicine was indeed fast-acting, Gu Siyuan immediately felt a lot better.

Only then did he have the energy to deal with the person he had just muddle-headedly brought in and who was now curled up on the bed.

He walked to the bedside and reached out to turn the person over.

Gu Siyuan was momentarily stunned by the person’s face, feeling an inexplicable familiarity, as if he had seen them somewhere before, but couldn’t recall where.

He asked coldly, “What’s your name?”

“Hmm? And who are you?” The person on the bed half-opened their bewildered eyes, but their tone was somewhat jaunty.

However, the revealed face was so stunningly handsome that even someone as usually indifferent as Gu Siyuan couldn’t feel any ill will toward them.

Seeing Gu Siyuan’s silence, the young man seemed a bit displeased and continued murmuring, “Come on, who are you? I… I’m Xie Jinzhao.”

Xie… Jinzhao?

Gu Siyuan squinted his eyes. He had never heard this name before.

So he must be a stranger. With his memory, he couldn’t possibly be wrong.

Then why the sense of familiarity? Could it be that he had become a superficial visual animal, feeling a connection just because the person was good-looking?

Just then, a sharp pain like needles stabbed his brain.

Immediately after, a flood of unfamiliar information surged in, accompanied by a familiar cold mechanical voice.

“Host, hello. This is your mission target in this world—Xie Jinzhao.

This mission: Change Xie Jinzhao’s fate and make him happy.

Success reward: One lottery chance.

Failure penalty: No reward.”

Gu Siyuan exhaled. So this was his mission target.

At that moment, the person on the bed started moaning, “Hot, so hot…”

While speaking, he began to tear at his thin clothes.

Recalling the information he had just received, Gu Siyuan realized that unlike himself, the person in front of him wasn’t suffering from a fever, but had been drugged.

Shaking his head lightly to clear those zhaotic thoughts, he bent down to pick up the slender body curled up in the dark blue blanket.

As soon as he held him, Gu Siyuan hesitated again, finding the sensation oddly familiar.

Kicking open the bathroom door, he placed the body into the bathtub and turned on the shower.

Warm water poured down, causing Xie Jinzhao to shiver uncontrollably and, half-asleep, he grabbed Gu Siyuan’s arm, murmuring, “No… sleepy, I want to sleep…”

Watching him snuggle against his arm like a kitten, Gu Siyuan narrowed his eyes.

Then he increased the water flow.

Leaning against the nearby sink, he watched Xie Jinzhao under the shower while going over the storyline of this world in his mind.

The main plot of this world takes place in the entertainment industry, as part of a harem novel.

The protagonist, Qi Ran, is the most cherished youngest son in his family, pampered by his parents and two doting older brothers. His father, Qi Guanyu, is a company director; his eldest brother, Qi Ze, is a promising new talent in the startup sector; and his second brother, Qi Run, has been a top-tier actor in the entertainment industry for nearly a decade with countless fans.

Originally, Qi Ran would study at an Ivy League school, then join the family business, enjoying a job with little work and lots of money.

However, Qi Ran became infatuated with the youngest Best Actor, Yun Yan, the main protagonist, and wanted to enter the entertainment industry to get close to him.

After much pleading with his family, Qi Ran finally joined the cast of “Rising Winds in the Mountains and Rivers.”

“Rising Winds in the Mountains and Rivers” is the most anticipated and heavily invested historical drama of the year. It features Yún Yǎn, the youngest Best Actor, as the lead and rising star Xie Jinzhao as the second male lead.

Qi Ran plays the role of the second male lead’s loyal guard, a naive yet highly skilled youth, with a small but well-crafted character arc.

However, being new to acting, Qi Ran often made rookie mistakes on set. Since he had the most scenes with Xie Jinzhao, the latter frequently helped and guided him to avoid delaying the shooting schedule, and also shielded him from other actors’ sarcasm.

Over time, they became friends.

Once, Qi Ran accidentally saw Xie Jinzhao’s phone wallpaper and discovered that he was a fan of his brother Qi Run. Out of gratitude for Xie Jinzhao’s help, Qi Ran revealed his identity and offered to introduce him to his brother.

From then on, Xie Jinzhao took even better care of Qi Ran.

Even when their agency wanted to create a fan-favorite duo by editing their behind-the-scenes interactions, and even suggesting a real-life couple act, Xie Jinzhao convinced his manager to agree.

When “Rising Winds in the Mountains and Rivers” aired, it didn’t become a massive hit due to not appealing to broader audiences, but it received high praise from the elite circles.

Besides the male lead getting nominated for Best Actor, the highest buzz came from the edited fan-favorite duo clips of Xie Jinzhao and Qi Ran.

The duo was popular not just in the drama but in real life as well, constantly tagging each other on social media and often hanging out together.

Fans adored their friendship, wishing for such a good friend in their lives.

Riding the wave of this promotional success and subsequent resources, Qi Ran quickly rose from a complete newcomer to a second-tier actor.

Qi Ran indeed reciprocated Xie Jinzhao’s help.

Not only did he introduce his second brother Qi Run to Xie Jinzhao, but he also jokingly said that he wanted Xie Jinzhao to become his second sister-in-law.

Qi Run, being someone who doted on his younger brother, directly laughed and said, “Sure,” after hearing this from Qi Ran.

Faced with his idol, Xie Jinzhao couldn’t bring himself to refuse.

Thus, Qi Run and Xie Jinzhao ended up together.

However, although Qi Ran was adored by everyone around him and treated like a treasure, there were still two people who wanted to harm him.

Shortly after the broadcast of “Rising Mountains and Rivers,” the leading actor Yun Yan returned to the film industry and began shooting a suspense movie called “The Killer.”

Qi Ran, being part of the investing company, managed to join the cast and played the third male lead, starting his second collaboration with Yun Yan.

By this time, Yun Yan and Qi Ran had already started dating.

Qi Ran, being an investor and on good terms with the male lead Yun Yan, behaved well on set, leading the director and screenwriter to subconsciously give him extra attention and even frequently add scenes for him.

Naturally, this caused disputes.

Especially for Zhang Chen, who played the second male lead in “The Killer” and was very dissatisfied. Zhang Chen, who had recently become popular due to a xianxia drama, had managed to get into this film through resource exchanges, aiming to break into the film industry and diversify his acting roles. Therefore, he was very particular about his scenes.

Consequently, Zhang Chen often tried to trip Qi Ran up during filming.

However, Qi Ran, being the beloved protagonist, not only resolved each issue but even used it as leverage to get Zhang Chen kicked out of the cast. All of Zhang Chen’s scenes as the second male lead were transferred to Qi Ran.

By the end of filming, “The Killer” had almost become a dual male lead film.

A few months later, “The Killer” was completed and successfully released in theaters.

The production quality was excellent, and with the rising popularity of “腐 culture” in recent years, along with ample marketing funds from Qi’s family, the CP pairing of the righteous and the villainous police and thief duo played by Yun Yan and Qi Ran garnered immense popularity and acclaim.

By the time the film went off theaters, it had grossed nearly 1.5 billion yuan, making it the highest-grossing and best-received police and thief film in the country in recent years.

Qi Ran directly ascended to first-tier status, becoming a movie star and receiving nominations for Best Supporting Actor and Best Newcomer at various film festivals.

However, this outcome made Zhang Chen, who had been kicked out of the cast, furious. In his view, all these achievements should have been his if it weren’t for Qi Ran’s interference.

Thus, at a certain banquet, he bribed a staff member to drug Qi Ran’s water, intending to send him to a male client’s hotel room.

But midway through the plan, Xie Jinzhao happened to come out for some fresh air and noticed something was wrong with Qi Ran, so he stepped forward to ask.

Panicked, the staff member knocked Xie Jinzhao out instead.

At that moment, Yun Yan coincidentally came around the corner.

In a hurry, the staff member abandoned Qi Ran and took the unconscious Xie Jinzhao away.

Qi Ran, under the influence of the drug, saw his beloved Yun Yan approaching, and the two ended up in a passionate encounter in a hotel room, completely unaware that Xie Jinzhao was taken away.

Meanwhile, the staff member, upon seeing that Xie Jinzhao was even better-looking than Qi Ran, decided to change the target and deliver Xie Jinzhao to the VIP room’s male client, Gu Siyuan.

Gu Siyuan, the stepson of Tianli Entertainment’s CEO Gu Hongxuan, had followed his mother into the Gu family at the age of seven.

However, his mother was only Gu Hongxuan’s third wife, while Gu Hongxuan’s first two wives had given him three sons and a daughter.

As a result, Gu Siyuan’s position in the Gu family was always awkward.

Since childhood, he was bullied and humiliated by Gu Hongxuan’s three biological sons, and his mother, trying to please Gu Hongxuan, never dared to speak up for him.

Growing up in such an environment, Gu Siyuan naturally developed a gloomy and twisted personality.

However, he did have someone he liked—Qi Ran.

Because the Gu and Qi families were old family friends, when he was bullied as a child, Qi Ran once handed him a tissue. From then on, he regarded Qi Ran as his “white moonlight” in his heart.

This time, Gu Siyuan learned by chance that someone was scheming against Qi Ran, so he used some means to switch rooms with the original client.

He liked Qi Ran but was too self-conscious about his background to confess his feelings.

However, the timing was too perfect this time. By a stroke of fate, even if things were exposed later, it wouldn’t be blamed on him. Perhaps he and Qi Ran could indeed end up together…

But who could have guessed that the person delivered in the end was Xie Jinzhao? This left Gu Siyuan immensely frustrated, and he vented his anger on Xie Jinzhao, not only tormenting him but also taking numerous indecent photos.

When Xie Jinzhao woke up, he was utterly devastated by what he saw.

But he didn’t dare call the police. As a public figure, such a scandal would ruin his career. Even though he was the victim, the public would forever associate him with the scandal, as many precedents had shown.

Moreover, he feared losing his hard-earned boyfriend, Qi Run.

Thus, he had to pretend that nothing happened under Gu Siyuan’s threats.

However, due to psychological reasons, Xie Jinzhao gradually distanced himself from Qi Ran, even competing for resources several times, no longer conceding like before.

In Xie Jinzhao’s mind, the main culprit to blame was Gu Siyuan, but second was Qi Ran, because he had helped Qi Ran…

When Qi Ran noticed the situation, he naively asked his second brother Qi Run if he had quarreled with Xie Jinzhao, and why Xie Jinzhao’s attitude towards him had suddenly turned sour.

Qi Run, being a devoted brother, naturally blamed Xie Jinzhao, saying, “If Ranran doesn’t like him anymore, then I’ll break up with him!”

On the other hand, at this time, Xie Jinzhao received a message from Gu Siyuan, who threatened and insulted him with the compromising photos, demanding to meet him.

After repeated incidents, Xie Jinzhao suddenly realized that human desires have no end, and he could no longer be controlled by them.

He finally decided to speak out about what had happened. First, he called his boyfriend and idol Qi Run, hoping for encouragement and support.

However, the first thing Qi Run said was that he wanted to break up.

Xie Jinzhao originally only had idol worship for Qi Run, without any romantic feelings, but at this moment, he saw him as his last straw and couldn’t help asking Qi Run why he wanted to break up.

Qi Run’s answer, however, was even more devastating.

Qi Run stated that he had never liked him in the first place. It didn’t matter to him who he dated. He only chose Xie Jinzhao because it made Qi Ran happy. Now that Qi Ran no longer liked him, he wanted to break up.

To this, Xie Jinzhao could only smile bitterly.

Meanwhile, Gu Siyuan, not receiving a response from Xie Jinzhao, angrily released the compromising photos.

Due to the poor reception of his last drama, Xie Jinzhao’s reputation had already been bad recently, with haters everywhere and a terrible public image.

The scandal broke out almost instantly, plunging his reputation even lower.

Terms like “homosexual,” “idol misconduct,” “chaotic private life,” and “promiscuity” were all associated with his name.

Reporters eventually approached Qi Ran and asked for his opinion on the scandal involving his former close friend.

Qi Ran, remembering Xie Jinzhao’s recent coldness, lightly said, “I don’t know much about this matter, but we’re all adults. If you do something wrong, you have to face the consequences.”

These seemingly fair words, in a way, almost directly confirmed all the rumors about Xie Jinzhao, becoming the last straw that broke him.

At this point, Xie Jinzhao had nothing left to lose.

He thought that even if he died, he would take others down with him, especially Gu Siyuan.

He hired a private investigator to find out Gu Siyuan’s identity and then went directly to Gu Siyuan’s home.

However, he was shocked to discover that Gu Siyuan seemed to be an old acquaintance of Qi Ran. The two chatted and interacted familiarly, and Gu Siyuan looked at Qi Ran with unmistakable admiration and longing.

Then he saw Yun Yan drive over to pick up Qi Ran. The two hugged and kissed secretly, clearly behaving like a couple.

Xie Jinzhao finally recalled that on the day at the hotel, it seemed to be Yun Yan who showed up last, causing the man to let Qi Ran go and take him away.

With a “you wronged me first, so don’t blame me for being ruthless” attitude, he immediately took out his phone to take pictures of Yun Yan and Qi Ran’s intimate moments, intending to expose them.

But the next moment, Yun Yan’s bodyguard discovered him and snatched his phone.

Qi Ran, looking at the bodyguard pinning down Xie Jinzhao, widened his eyes in surprise. “Jinzhao, what are you trying to do? Even if something happened to you, you shouldn’t try to harm me. Aren’t we friends?”

This time, Qi Ran appeared to let him go, allowing him to leave unscathed.

But shortly after, he told his second brother Qi Run about the incident.

Qi Run, being overly protective of his brother, would not allow such an unstable element to exist in the outside world. He drugged Xie Jinzhao and sent him to the pervert Gu Siyuan.

Gu Siyuan, eager to solve a problem for Qi Ran and having developed a taste for Xie Jinzhao after the first time, did not refuse.

Until one time, Gu Siyuan, being careless, was stabbed several times by Xie Jinzhao when he found an opportunity. The two struggled and eventually fell off the balcony together, dying.

In the end, Qi Ran continued to rise, achieving success in his career and happiness in love, making great achievements in both movies and TV shows. A few years later, at an award ceremony, Yun Yan formally proposed to him.

They received everyone’s blessings, becoming an undoubtedly perfect couple.

And Xie Jinzhao, once a part of their lives, left almost no trace.

…

Gu Siyuan turned off the water, looking down with a mocking smile at the person sleeping like a little pig in the bathtub. “Really quite pathetic!”