RSDH CH3

Shengxing was a top-tier entertainment company in the country, occupying its own modern skyscraper with over thirty floors. Its roster included artists from every sector of the entertainment industry.

Duan Xingye and Xiao Dai entered the lobby one after the other. Before they even reached the elevator bank, they saw a small filming crew blocking the way.

Xiao Dai took a peek and lowered his voice to warn him: “What a coincidence, it’s Tang Ning.”

Through the crowd, Tang Ning could be seen wearing a baseball cap, smiling and waving at the camera. His looks and vibe were exactly the type most popular in boy bands right now.

Duan Xingye didn’t even pause his steps; he just kept walking forward.

Tang Ning had been riding high recently, destined for stardom. The company was producing a personal documentary for his first anniversary debut. While filming, they were also livestreaming behind-the-scenes footage, wasting no time in attracting traffic and fans on short-video platforms.

While waiting for the elevator, Tang Ning had been interacting with the viewers in his livestream. Looking up inadvertently, he saw Duan Xingye approaching.

Tang Ning’s eyes shifted slightly. He gave Duan Xingye a small bow, revealing just the right amount of respectful nervousness: “Teacher Duan.”

As soon as Duan Xingye’s beautiful face entered the frame, it elicited a wave of gasps. However, as he passed, his expression was as indifferent as snow; he only gave Tang Ning a slight nod.

That counted as a greeting.

Tang Ning asked carefully, “I’m livestreaming right now, do you mind?”

Duan Xingye shook his head, staring at the jumping numbers above the elevator, completely unbothered.

Tang Ning had no choice but to look down and play on his phone.

But in reality, he was monitoring the livestream chat.

At this moment, Tang Ning’s fans were controlling the narrative.

“Tang Ning bowed, and Duan Xingye just gives that attitude???”

“Isn’t Duan Xingye being too arrogant towards a junior from the same company?”

“Acting like this only exposes how petty he is. He must be jealous that our Tang Ning is better looking than him, haha! Is he mad?”

Tang Ning secretly curled the corner of his lips. Right now, the whole internet was comparing him to Duan Xingye. The colder and more unreasonable Duan Xingye appeared, the worse his reputation would be compared to Tang Ning’s.

Just then, two comments with a different tone slipped by.

“Is everyone saying the streamer is better looking than Duan Xingye joking?”

“If fans insist on discussing looks, can we be realistic and stop the awkward hyping?”

The corner of Tang Ning’s mouth drooped. His gaze focused on the center of the livestream feed.

Duan Xingye was standing next to him. Because he was tall and slender, he wasn’t blocked from the camera, and his face was fully visible.

Duan Xingye was currently staring at the display above the elevator. The slight upward tilt of his face stretched the elegant line of his jaw. The sunlight swept in from the side, seemingly coating his facial contours in a thin, transparent layer. Whether it was his long, straight eyelashes, the upturned curve of his eyes, the naturally perfect tip of his nose, or his slightly pursed, full lips—everything proclaimed the otherworldly beauty of this face.

And this was without makeup and without any beauty filters.

Being this good-looking so effortlessly could only be called a gift.

However, fans couldn’t stand seeing their idol’s looks mocked, so they swarmed to counterattack.

“Tang Ning was crowned the ‘Beauty of Four Thousand Years’ right after debut. He’s never lost in the looks department.”

“Tang Ning is pure natural, no additives. He’s been good-looking since childhood. In an era where everyone in the entertainment circle gets work done on their face, he wins on that alone.”

“I see Duan Xingye has red lips and white teeth; it’s impossible he’s wearing zero makeup, right? Tang Ning is completely bare-faced today. Can they even be compared?”

Whenever anyone tried to rebut or say a word for Duan Xingye, the fans would attack en masse, leaving passersby speechless.

Tang Ning was actually wearing makeup today, just not his usual heavy stage makeup. Wearing the baseball cap was also a ploy to pretend he was out on the street bare-faced.

Seeing the screen filled with praise for the “Beautiful Youth,” he felt light and airy inside. After thinking for a moment, he raised his hand and took off the baseball cap.

Tang Ning shook his hair out and mimicked Duan Xingye, adopting a pose with his face tilted upward, letting the sunlight spilling in from the window fully sweep across his profile.

The fans instantly went crazy. The comments were flooded with rainbow farts like “So good looking!” and “God-tier visuals!”

Duan Xingye sensed the movement beside him and looked over.

When he first entered, he was too far away to see clearly. Now that he was close to Tang Ning, he realized that this face was mixed with a bit of “technological feel.”

It wouldn’t be exposed under a camera lens, but face-to-face, the incongruities were visible. For example, Tang Ning’s double eyelids weren’t a width harmonious with typical Asian features, and his lower lip had been injected slightly too full, making it appear stiff.

Perhaps Duan Xingye’s gaze was too blunt, because Tang Ning turned his face to meet his eyes and asked, “Teacher Duan, what’s wrong?”

Once Tang Ning’s face turned away from the camera, he no longer hid his arrogance.

With the support of camera angles and makeup techniques, plus fans generating buzz for him, Tang Ning didn’t believe he couldn’t win this round on looks!

Duan Xingye’s gaze fixed on a certain spot on Tang Ning’s face for a moment, and he offered a reminder: “Your nose prosthesis is translucent.”

“!!!”

Tang Ning’s face instantly crumbled. With lightning speed, he raised his hand to cover his nose.

“Pfft—!”

Xiao Dai spat out a laugh directly.

Anyone who knew a little about plastic surgery knew that stuffing a prosthesis into the bridge of the nose could easily stretch the skin thin. Especially under sunlight, the root of the nose would reveal a reddish, bloody glow.

Of course, translucency didn’t guarantee a prosthesis, but Tang Ning had just faced the camera at the same angle and with the same light source as Duan Xingye. In comparison, the gap between natural and artificial became obvious.

The most critical part was Tang Ning’s action of covering his nose the moment he was exposed. His guilty conscience was too obvious.

So there was no washing away the plastic surgery allegations.

In the livestream, the fans who were arrogant just a moment ago fell silent.

Passersby exploded with laughter: “Hahahahahaha! What kind of demon or ghost thinks they can survive a one-sentence instant kill in front of Duan Xingye!”

With a ding, the elevator stopped on the first floor.

Duan Xingye ignored the awkward atmosphere filling the space and stepped into the elevator as if no one else existed.

Xiao Dai’s shoulders were shaking as he zipped in after him.

His Teacher Duan might have a “Buddhist” (chill) personality, but if someone really came looking for trouble, Teacher Duan was not afraid of it.

Tang Ning sharing a frame with Cheng Duzhou last night didn’t make the trending search, but today, Duan Xingye pointing out his nose prosthesis shot him to the top of the trending list.

Simply because the effect was like a livestream accident—too eye-catching to ignore.

“Tang Ning wouldn’t admit to plastic surgery if his life depended on it before, bragging every day about being all-natural. Bragging is fine, but he always used his looks to step on other idols and actors. Seeing him crash and burn is simply satisfying!”

“Who gave Tang Ning the courage to try and scam Duan Xingye?”

“He even dared to take off his hat. Did he really think he and Duan Xingye were in the same weight class regarding looks?”

Duan Xingye’s actions in the video also sparked heated discussion.

“To be honest, Duan Xingye’s EQ is too low.”

“Duan Xingye used all his EQ credits to top up his beauty stats hahahahahaha!”

“Is it because Tang Ning has been interacting frequently with Cheng Duzhou lately? Did Duan Xingye get jealous and deliberately target Tang Ning?”

“Teacher Duan fighting out of jealousy for President Cheng??? CP fans are crying. We wouldn’t dare dream of such a good thing.”

Duan Xingye leaned back on the sofa in his agent’s office. He casually liked the comment saying “wouldn’t dare dream of such a good thing” and muttered a cold sneer: “Do I look like I have a ‘love brain’?”

Sister Yu had just hung up the phone. Looking frazzled, she informed Duan Xingye: “The higher-ups hope you’ll apologize to Tang Ning.”

“Me? Apologize?” Duan Xingye raised an eyebrow at her.

This single raised brow was extremely expressive, conveying “Are you sure?”, “No regrets?”, and “Don’t blame me for not warning you” all at once.

Sister Yu gave up decisively. “Forget it, let the people upstairs be annoyed…”

She sent a document to Duan Xingye on the computer and said, “The All the Way With You team seems afraid you two will run away. They’re moving efficiently. The contract review passed, and the official announcement will be released tonight. They’re coming to film the promo next week, and the interview questions have been sent over. You and President Cheng should prepare in advance.”

Duan Xingye opened the document casually.

Question 1: [Describe the moment you fell for each other.]

Duan Xingye glanced at it and lost interest. He exited the interface and said, “You arrange the script. Write the answers to the questions, and Cheng Duzhou and I will act it out.”

“What’s wrong?” Sister Yu was confused. “Can’t you guys improvise?”

Duan Xingye’s fingertip paused on the screen for half a second. He looked up and asked back, “You want two people in a contract marriage to discuss the moment they fell for each other?”

Sister Yu touched her nose, admitting she had been careless. She continued, “Do you have any requirements for the romance variety script?”

“I wouldn’t call them requirements.” Duan Xingye looked back at his phone. “I don’t mind if the script has ‘industrial saccharine’ (fake sweetness), but please make it so Cheng Duzhou is madly in love with me to the point of death.”

“…” Sister Yu picked up her cup and gulped down some water to calm her nerves. “Will President Cheng agree to that?”

Duan Xingye blinked lazily. “Do I care about him?”

Sister Yu rubbed her forehead.

The Ancestor was too domineering, and President Cheng didn’t seem like the type to submit. “Madly in love to the point of death” probably wouldn’t work.

…

Cheng Duzhou was still with the producers when he received a call halfway through and learned that Duan Xingye had caused trouble.

“Exposing plastic surgery to someone’s face during a livestream… that’s crossing the line.” The executive got straight to the point. “Tang Ning is a junior in the same company. Talk to Little Duan. Have him apologize voluntarily to ease the situation.”

Cheng Duzhou turned his teacup in one hand. After a long while, he said, “You said it yourself, he is a junior.”

The executive realized the implication. “You…”

“As a newcomer, I suggest learning to respect seniors before entering the industry. If the company won’t discipline him and insists on covering for him, allow me to state my position.”

Cheng Duzhou lowered his pitch-black eyes, which revealed no emotion. He released the teacup, his fingertips rubbing the water stain on his thumb.

“My husband doesn’t like being used for clout.”

There was silence on the other end of the phone for several seconds, followed by a heavy sigh. “Alright, understood.”

Approaching 6:00 PM, the Shengxing Building stood tall under the dark winter twilight, brightly lit.

Peak off-work hours for media personnel were usually between 2:00 and 4:00 AM, while artists had no fixed schedule, ending work depending on their itinerary.

Tang Ning’s plastic surgery incident was still hanging on the trending search, but his PR team was preparing to “hard wash” (whitewash) it. Therefore, the documentary filming continued, and the livestream remained open as usual.

Tang Ning pulled his hat brim low and entered the conference room with red, swollen eyes.

Fans saw this and jumped up and down, crying out that their hearts ache for their gege.

Passersby ate their popcorn, leaving behind ruthless mockery.

The content of the meeting couldn’t be filmed, so the cameraman took this opportunity to grab dinner. The camera stand was moved to a corner next to a potted plant, neither interrupting the stream nor blocking the hallway.

The conference room door closed, shutting the camera out.

Tang Ning took off his hat and slammed it on the table, panting heavily. He no longer wore the aggrieved expression of someone bullied in front of the camera, but his red eyes weren’t an act—he was truly angry enough to cry.

He had gone to the higher-ups for an explanation, but after an afternoon passed, they actually told him to let it go.

Duan Xingye didn’t have to apologize, fine, but he didn’t even get punished? The whole thing made Tang Ning look like the only clown!

Tang Ning looked at the mockery in the livestream chat on his phone, finding it harder and harder to swallow this anger. “Wait until I finish acting in Three Kingdoms. It’ll be hard not to be famous. Duan Xingye made me lose face today; I will pay him back double in the future!”

Previously, his manager told Tang Ning that the major studio backing this IP attached great importance to it, so they would definitely convince Cheng Duzhou to join and co-star as the dual male lead. The publicity team had even finalized the trending search titles for the duration of their filming.

Moreover, they had released press release after press release, maxing out audience expectations. With such high heat, what reason would Cheng Duzhou have to refuse?

Cheng Duzhou couldn’t possibly hate money and traffic.

Now, Tang Ning was just waiting for the production crew’s official announcement to smack Duan Xingye in the face.

“Duan Xingye making an enemy of you is him narrowing his own path,” the manager said. “Don’t worry. You won’t even need to finish filming; very soon, your popularity and status will crush him.”

Tang Ning imagined the future scene of mocking Duan Xingye, feeling satisfied deep down. “Duan Xingye has been married to Senior Brother for so many years, yet their CP is weirdly cold. The internet is actually spreading rumors that Duan Xingye received a romance variety show invitation. How laughable. Is he trying to mooch off the heat by buying water armies (fake bots)?”

Right at that moment, a massive wave of bullet comments flooded the livestream.

Tang Ning was confused and picked up his phone to check.

” All the Way With You officially announced it!!!”

“The BL drama was just stringing fans along! Cheng Duzhou isn’t participating at all!”

“Tang Ning bought almost every marketing account on the net to scam the Lü Ye Shu Huai couple… asking now: does your face hurt!?”

“???”

Tang Ning still didn’t know what had happened. He hurriedly opened Weibo.

Then, his heart skipped a beat, and his face turned green.

—

Author’s Note:

Duan Xingye: But what is that junior brother anyway? 🙂