Boss's Death Guide Ch 138

  🔥 Boss's Death Guide 🔥 by Jue Jue

Chapter 138: The Jujube Tree

Although the monkey was eager to take them somewhere, Nie Yi and Qi Jingchen still took a detour to the warehouse and brought along Qi An and Xiaomao before joining the monkey.

There shouldn't be any other danger in this area except for zombies. With Qi Jingchen around, they didn't have to worry about zombies. However, bringing along Qi An gave them an extra layer of protection. If they found something good along the way, they could just put it directly into Xiaomao's space.

"Where are we going?" This time, Qi An wasn't holding Xiaomao but had given her to Nie Yi. He was casually walking around Qi Jingchen, and at this moment, he ran ahead of Qi Jingchen and walked backward while talking to him.

"Following the monkey." Qi Jingchen pointed to the monkey that was running ahead of them.

Qi An pouted, turned around to look at Little Monkey, and said, "This monkey's butt is really ugly!" He then ran up and flicked the tip of the monkey's tail with his finger.

The monkey's tail swung to avoid his finger, but Qi An was reincarnated. His strength was not bad, and he accurately flicked the monkey's tail. After doing it, he burst into laughter.

"..." This mischievous child!

"Qi An, how old is your mental age?" Nie Yi sneered.

"I'm still a kid, can't you see?" When he said this, his eyes were filled with nostalgia, but also some confusion. 

"Let's go, we'll take you on a trip." Qi Jingchen said. When they met Qi An in their past lives, everyone's days were difficult. Qi An didn't even have the chance to go out and play, let alone eat enough.

"Okay!" Qi An continued to happily chase after the monkey.

Near their city, some plants had turned black, but as they entered the forest, everything got better. The plants were lush, trees were shaded, and the dark atmosphere was suppressed.

Qi Jingchen felt very comfortable in the forest. Little Monkey was even more excited and did not run on the ground, but instead swung on the trees and ran forward quickly.

Little Monkey urged them back and forth. When it saw any water puddles or bricks, it stepped on them. However, Nie Yi and Qi Jingchen did not hurry to follow, but walked leisurely in the forest.

They had experience finding food in the forest from their past lives. Although they didn't know all edible things, they could still find a lot.

"This is an edible wild vegetable." Qi Jingchen pointed to a clump of vegetables under a tree. Nie Yi used his ice blade to dig it out of the ground along with the soil, then put Xiaomao down.

Xiaomao picked up all the wild vegetables. If they put live animals into her space, they would die, but if they put plants in, they could be planted alive later.

This wasn't the first time Xiaomao collected wild vegetables dug up by Nie Yi. After collecting them all this time, she said seriously, "I'll walk by myself."

"Okay, Xiaomao can walk by herself." Qi Jingchen knew that children liked to walk on interesting paths. They liked to look for water puddles or bricks to step on. He didn't stop Xiaomao and let Qi An watch her. After that, the group continued to walk slowly forward.

Little Monkey continued to urge them. Later, it didn't work, so it just shrugged and came to Xiaomao. It kept swaying in the trees and even grew a shrub, picking the berries on it and giving them to Xiaomao to eat.

They slowly went deeper into the forest, and by the afternoon, Nie Yi made a meal for Qi Jingchen using the materials at hand.

The taste of many wild animals was actually mediocre. After boiling the bird Nie Yi caught, it was very fishy and could only be consumed reluctantly. This was because animals raised and vegetables planted were often bred for taste.

After they finished eating, they continued moving forward.

"How long will it take to get there?" Nie Yi grabbed the monkey and asked. He had crossed a mountain with Qi Jingchen and saw that Qi Jingchen was exhausted.

The monkey couldn't speak, but just grinned and showed its teeth. It even stretched out its hand to imitate Nie Yi's movement to grab him.

"Let's pick up our pace." Qi Jingchen looked at Nie Yi. The place where Little Monkey was taking them was farther than they had imagined. If they continued to be slow, they wouldn't know when they would get there.

They sped up, but it was already dark when they arrived at their destination.

Nie Yi even looked around and felt it was unfamiliar. He had gone deep into the Dabie Mountains before, but he really didn't recognize the mountain roads here.

While it was still not completely dark, Nie Yi went out to find some firewood and caught two rabbits. With the addition of the food in Xiaomao's space, their dinner was sumptuous.

"I'm going to learn how to raise rabbits well in the future." Qi An swore as he ate the rabbit.

"You said you were going to learn how to raise chickens well before." Nie Yi glanced at him before placing a rabbit leg in Qi Jingchen's bowl.

Qi An silently sped up his eating.

There were tents in Xiaomao's space, and they slept in them at night. Qi An and Xiaomao slept in one tent, and Nie Yi and Qi Jingchen slept in another.

Squeezed together with their loved ones in one tent, it was inevitable that something would happen.

Although they couldn't move very freely due to the small space, they both felt very satisfied and even felt it was exciting to do it secretly.

The next day, Qi Jingchen and Nie Yi ate something, purified the place where they camped the night before using their ability, and then continued to follow the little monkey. Their speed this time was much faster than yesterday, and as they neared noon, they finally arrived at their destination.

The little monkey led Nie Yi and Qi Jingchen to a narrow valley, or rather, it could not even be called a valley, but a crack the mountain.

The monkey was small and disappeared into the crack. Nie Yi and Qi Jingchen looked around, and finally chose a larger gap to slowly climb down.

The gap on top of the valley was not very big, the widest part was only about two meters, but the bottom gradually became spacious. On both sides of the rock walls, many small grasses swayed their bodies in the wind.

The wind in the crack was strong, but the roots of these small grasses were deeply rooted in the cracks, making them tenacious. In the end, Qi Jingchen couldn't help giving them a little light energy.

The monkey stared fiercely at the grass and continued walking down. Qi Jingchen, however, had nowhere to step on - the mountain wall was difficult to climb!

"Let Qi An go down first and take us down later." Nie Yi suggested as he crawled down the crack first and stayed under Qi Jingchen the entire way. This way, he could catch Qi Jingchen if he couldn't hold on.

Qi Jingchen looked down and felt dizzy. Suddenly, he didn’t want to climb down anymore, so he slowly climbed back up to the valley above.

"Boss? What's it like down there?" Qi An saw Qi Jingchen and immediately asked. He actually wanted to climb the cliff himself, but Qi Jingchen didn't agree before.

"We haven't gone down yet. Use your ability to teleport down and take a look." Nie Yi climbed up behind Qi Jingchen and said immediately.

Qi An cheered and directly teleported to the bottom of the valley. After confirming that the little monkey wanted them to go there, he came back up to the top and first brought Nie Yi down, then Qi Jingchen.

Teleportation was very magical. Qi Jingchen felt the space in front of him sway, and then he appeared at the bottom of the valley, stepping on soft mud.

Or rather, not mud, but a thick layer of fallen leaves.

Perhaps because there were always dead branches and leaves falling into this valley and rotting, there was a thick layer of mud in the valley. On top of this layer of mud, there was a big tree.

This big tree was very large, perhaps to get more sunlight. It had been growing towards the entrance of the valley and was very, very tall, about twenty meters tall. Unfortunately, even so, it was still far from the entrance of the crack.

"What kind of tree is this?" Qi Jingchen asked subconsciously. Except for this tree, there were no other plants at the bottom of the valley - the fallen leaves on the ground were too thick to allow any grass to grow. Wait a minute, this tree gave him the feeling...

"Jujube tree." Nie Yi said. He had come down first and happened to see the little monkey picking some jujubes on the tree.

"Can jujube trees grow this big?" Qi An came down holding Xiaomao, and asked in amazement. Speaking of which, the trunk of the tree wasn't thick to the point of being outrageous. An adult could embrace it, but the tree was too tall.

"Something is strange." Nie Yi said, looking up. At this time, the little monkey was climbing down the tree and giving Nie Yi and Qi Jingchen a jujube each.

"There shouldn't be any jujubes left now, right?" Qi Jingchen took the jujube and whispered.

The tree in front of them and the feeling given by the jujube in his hand was similar to that of a mutant plant! Of course, the energy contained within it was different from any other mutant plant he had seen before, but it was somewhat similar to the energy on the little monkey ...

Thinking this way, Qi Jingchen suddenly put his hand on the trunk of the jujube tree. At the same time, he felt a surging energy inside the tree.

That kind of energy was exactly the same as the plant system ability!

This was a mutant plant!

Mutant plants were generally small because the energy of various factors in the air was not enough for a large plant to mutate. It was precisely because of this that anyone who sensed a mutant plant and wanted to have abilities had to eat the whole mutant plant!

But now, there was a huge mutant plant in front of them. This plant was so huge that it was incredible, and the energy inside it was also incredible!

If they brought back this mutated plant, would it be possible for a large group of plant ability users to appear in their safe zone? Qi Jingchen was both shocked and happy for a moment, but soon he suppressed the excitement.

Plant ability users were very rare, and there are few people had such talent. Even if he brought back the mutated plant, there probably weren’t many people who would awaken their abilities...

Qi Jingchen was disappointed, but then felt he was thinking too much. Even if their safe zone only had one more plant ability user, it would be good!

No wonder the little monkey brought them here, there was such a good thing here, which could even create many plant ability users...

But...it may not be a simple task to bring this tree back.

Xiaomao was bouncing the leaves. Qi Jingchen asked her, "Xiaomao, can you fit this tree into your space?"

The Xiaomao looked at the tree and hesitated before shaking her head.

The tree was very tall. It was normal that Xiaomao's space couldn’t fit it... Qi Jingchen wasn't surprised and immediately said to Nie Yi, "Since we can't take it with us, let's just take some jujubes back. The energy contained in one jujube can already rival that of a regular mutated plant."

"The tree no longer has any jujubes on it," Nie Yi said. "The taller and larger the jujube tree grows, the deeper its roots grow, and the fewer jujubes it bears. There weren't many jujubes on the tree to begin with, and now they've all been eaten by that monkey, except the ones in our hands."

If the roots and trunk of a jujube tree are too long, it will consume the energy obtained from photosynthesis and reduce the amount of jujubes it bears. Therefore, after a few years of harvest, jujube tree farmers often cut off its roots.

Qi Jingchen didn't know this, but he knew Nie Yi was right. His hometown was in the countryside where many people planted fruit trees in front and behind their homes and ate the fruits they produced, and jujubes were commonly grown.

This kind of tree was very strange, with many jujubes when it was small, but bearing fewer and fewer as it grew taller and larger.

Looking up at the branches of the jujube tree and scanning them with his spiritual power, Qi Jingchen found that there were indeed no jujubes on them, and the little monkey was still chewing.

It was clear that the monkey was able to awaken its plant ability by eating those jujubes.

"We'll just take some branches back?" Qi Jingchen suggested. The entire tree had mutated, and its branches and leaves were probably just as effective. And those who can awaken their plant abilities...they probably wouldn't mind nibbling a tree branch or two, even if jujube tree branches were abnormally strong...

"I'll dig it out and carry it back!" Nie Yi said. "This place is too far from our city. Leaving it here, it might be invaded by dark energy, we might as well bring it back."

Thinking of the dark world in the later stages of the apocalypse, Qi Jingchen also wanted to take the tree back, but it was such a big tree...

"I'll just make an ice path and drag it back," Nie Yi said, seeing Qi Jingchen's hesitation.

"Xiaomao, bring out the hoe," Qi Jingchen said.

Qi Jingchen and Nie Yi dug for a long time before they dug out some of the roots of this giant jujube tree, and at the same time, they found it almost impossible to dig out all the roots of this jujube tree.

After some thought, they gritted their teeth and finally cut off the few giant roots of the jujube tree that were already as thick as a person’s waist.

After it got dark, they turned on a batter powered lamp and continued to work. Finally, they dug the big jujube tree out of the mud.

The big tree was about to fall when Nie Yi held it up. His physical fitness had improved a lot, so he could even carry such a big tree on his shoulder!

It was at this time they realized one thing. The gap above the crack was only about two meters wide. To get the tree out, they must trim the branches...

"Uncle, do you want to bring the tree back?" Xiaomao suddenly asked.

"Yes," Qi Jingchen said to Xiaomao, and also began to consider where to cut the tree.

Then...the tree disappeared.

"Can you fit the tree into your space, Xiaomao?" Qi Jingchen looked at Xiaomao in surprise and suddenly felt that he might have picked up a treasure - Xiaomao's space was obviously larger than he imagined! But now that he thought about it, if Xiaomao's ability weren't so strong, he wouldn't have been able to sense it from afar.

"I can," Xiaomao said.

"Why did you say you couldn't earlier?" Nie Yi frowned.

Nie Yi's face was cold. Xiaomao may have been frightened, because she retreated a step and hid behind Qi An. She was aggrieved as she said, "The tree wasn't dug up just now."

This reason made sense. If the tree wasn't dug up, she wouldn't have been able to put the tree into her space...

Qi Jingchen was amused. Nie Yi looked at Xiaomao’s frightened expression and condensed a small jujube tree out of ice for her.

Xiaomao took the ice tree and became happy at once, and was no longer afraid of Nie Yi. At this time, Qi Jingchen frowned and looked at the big pit next to him: "The energy of the plant system here is even more dense now that the jujube tree is gone..."

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The Perfect Relationship Ch 105

  🍁 The Perfect Relationship 🍁 by Xi He Qing Ling

Chapter 105: Making it Through

Shao Junling breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that his brother, although weak, still had the strength to argue with him. It seemed that he was going to be alright.

"If I hadn't come back, would you have told me if you were sick?" Shao Junling asked.

Yin Chang paused and said in a hoarse voice, "Everyone gets a cold and fever. Look, I'm feeling better now."

Shao Junling thought about how Yin Chang was tortured by nightmares and in pain last night, and only fell asleep while leaning on Shao Junling's arm. He cursed inwardly, thinking that Yin Chang was deluding himself. But he didn't say it out loud to save face for his brother.

In fact, if Shao Junling hadn't come back, Yin Chang might have been able to survive by enduring it. Three months was a critical period for breaking away from dependency on a relationship. Surviving it was like passing through a disaster. From then on, he could be carefree.

However, Shao Junling came back at this critical moment. To Yin Chang, the deep sleep he had enjoyed last night was like a drug addict relapsing during the most difficult stage of withdrawal, falling back into the gentle and sweet trap. From now on, it would be even harder to quit this addiction.

Therefore, even though Yin Chang's spirits had improved when he woke up, after the joy of seeing Shao Junling again, he felt himself fall back into the control of the immersion. 

After finishing the porridge, he handed the empty bowl back to Shao Junling, "Who called you back?"

Shao Junling was taken aback by his stern tone. He began to vaguely sense that his brother felt different from before.

"No one called me back. I'm on vacation," Shao Junling said.

"Vacation?" Yin Chang never expected this reason. He had lived abroad since childhood and of course knew that Christmas meant a vacation, but he thought winter vacation started mid-December, not now.

He looked at Shao Junling suspiciously, and Shao Junling gave the same explanation as when he answered Lu Lingjuan yesterday: "There were no exams right before Christmas. I finished my assignments a week early and turned them in. I still have a few classes this week, so I asked He Hongjun to take notes for me."

"Why did you come back early?" Yin Chang asked.

Shao Junling looked directly at him, "I missed you."

Yin Chang: "..."

For the first time in front of Yin Chang, Shao Junling expressed his longing for him in such explicit terms. At any other time, he could be sure that Yin Chang would be happy to hear it. But now, he could see a hint of panic in Yin Chang's eyes, swinging between joy and resistance before finally calming down like a still lake, showing no emotions.

Shao Junling was surprised to see that Yin Chang had changed so much. Before, his brother was gentle and tolerant, especially after opening up to him and revealing his most authentic self. He sometimes even showed a childish and cute side. But now, Yin Chang seemed to be shrouded in shadow, hiding all his emotions and making them impossible to discern.

Could this be because of Cao Pi's influence?

Although Shao Junling had a basic understanding of the history of the Three Kingdoms, his knowledge of Cao Pi was limited to some historical evaluations and one-sided descriptions. Yin Chang's changes clearly exceeded his expectations, making his original plans much more uncertain.

After thinking about it briefly, Shao Junling put away his sharpness and stopped probing.

After finishing his meal, Shao Junling messaged Lu Lingjuan. She came to check Yin Chang's temperature again and confirmed that it had returned to normal. Ecstatic, she asked, "Do you have any discomfort anywhere else?"

"No," Yin Chang was unusually alert, and said he wanted to get out of bed. "Tell the director that I can work today."

Lu Lingjuan looked at him helplessly and said, "Don't you want to rest for another day? He gave you three days off."

Yin Chang looked at her unhappily, and she immediately said, "I'll go talk to him!"

Before leaving, Yin Chang explained patiently, "I'm currently in the right state to shoot the prison scene. It should have been shot yesterday."

"..." Lu Lingjuan looked to Shao Junling for help, but he shrugged, looking helpless.

She reluctantly called Wu and, when she returned, said to Yin Chang, "the director said it's okay, but the set for the morning shoot is already set up, and the actors are already in makeup. He wants us to come back in the afternoon."

"I'll go now. I need to see how other people are acting to get a feel for it," said Yin Chang.

"Okay," Lu Lingjuan said.

Before leaving, Yin Chang looked at Shao Junling. Shao Junling had taken out his laptop from his schoolbag and was sitting at the desk preparing to study. Seeing Yin Chang looking at him, he said, "You go, I'm going to sleep soon."

He hadn't adjusted to the time difference and hadn't slept last night. The day was his night.

Yin Chang nodded. "If you get bored, go out for a walk."

After Yin Chang and Lu Lingjuan left, Shao Junling sat in front of the desk for a while and then began to search the internet for information on Cao Pi.

Around noon, he received a message from Lu Lingjuan, asking if he was in the room. She offered to bring him food.

"You haven't rested?" Lu Lingjuan asked when she came in.

"No, I was just looking up some information. I'll sleep later this afternoon," Shao Junling closed his laptop, "How is my brother doing?"

"He's feeling better today... He has to go to the set soon. Do you want to come and watch?" Lu Lingjuan asked.

"Can I go?" Shao Junling asked.

"I can take you in, but I'm afraid your brother will be angry if he finds out," Lu Lingjuan was somewhat uneasy.

"Why?" Before, when Yin Chang was filming, Shao Junling would visit the set and watch his brother perform. Yin Chang was always happy when he appeared.

Lu Lingjuan complained, "Ah, don't even mention it. When I left this morning, he asked me if I had called you back. I didn't dare to lie to him, so I told him that manager Yao had called you, but we didn't expect you to come back so soon..."

Shao Junling was taken aback. "He asked about me?"

Lu Lingjuan replied, "No, but he looked very unhappy."

After a moment of thought, Shao Junling opened his lunch box and ate while saying, "He wasn't like this before."

Lu Lingjuan asked, "Do you mean he's moody?"

"No, he's suspicious," Shao Junling said after taking a bite. "He already asked me this morning if anyone called me back. Before, he believed everything I said and wouldn't ask again."

"Maybe it's because of the filming," murmured Lu Lingjuan. "His mood has been up and down lately."

Shao Junling quickly finished his lunch, "Ling sister, I won't go to the set this afternoon, but if you're there, can you take a video for me?"

For Lu Lingjuan, this request was trivial. "You want to see a video? I have many on my phone. I'll send them to you. Your brother acts really well! But you can't leak them out before the drama is aired."

"I know." Shao Junling received about ten short videos. He clicked on one, which was a scene where Cao Pi misunderstood Cao Cao and witnessed how his father favored his other brothers. At that moment, Yin Chang exuded a terrifying aura of killing intent, and the depth in his eyes made Shao Junling's heart skip a beat.

Lu Lingjuan was right. Yin Chang really acted well. Watching these clips, Shao Junling even forgot that it was his brother...

In the afternoon, Shao Junling only slept for a short while and then exported the script from Yin Chang's storage in the AI.

After reading the script, Shao Junling's understanding of Cao Pi reached a new level, but at the same time, he realized the seriousness of the problem.

If his brother was too invested in his role, his heart was probably closed to the outside world.

For Cao Pi, who had been under constant pressure for survival and from competition and suffered from a severe lack of love, his heart was like a dry pond, and a few sweet words were just a light drizzle that couldn't make a ripple.

No wonder the words "I miss you" didn't elicit the response Shao Junling expected from Yin Chang...

Shao Junling felt lingering fear in his heart and immediately overturned his original plan, deciding to temporarily maintain the status quo.

When Yin Chang returned from the set in the evening, he found Shao Junling lying on his bed. At first, his mind was still in the drama. But when he saw Shao Junling, he was suddenly startled and returned to reality.

Yin Chang walked to the bed and stared at Shao Junling's face from up close for a while, feeling a warm sensation in his heart.

Under Yin Chang's gaze, Shao Junling quickly woke up. "You're back?"

Yin Chang asked, "Have you had dinner?"

Shao Junling looked at the time. "I haven't had dinner, but I should eat 'breakfast' now."

Yin Chang laughed and reached out to pat Shao Junling's head. This movement Shao Junling had strongly resisted when he was fifteen, but Yin Chang rarely did it now. However, this time Shao Junling didn't avoid it.

"Don't do this next time." The gentle tone was accompanied by an order that couldn't be refused. It seemed that Yin Chang didn't intend to further investigate his premature return.

Shao Junling was relieved and continued to lower his head. "I understand."

They had takeout again for dinner, but Shao Junling didn't mind. After dinner, Yin Chang took a shower, laid on the bed, chatted with Shao Junling about life abroad for a while, and soon became drowsy.

In the middle of the night, Shao Junling felt that Yin Chang was not sleeping soundly. Quietly, he went over and coaxed him to sleep as he did last night.

Day after day, Shao Junling slept during the day and studied on his computer after accompanying Yin Chang to sleep. He stayed in their room all day and rarely went out.

In this way, a week passed. 

This day, when Yin Chang came back from filming, he saw Shao Junling was still sleeping. He patted him awake. "Get up, I'll take you out for dinner."

Shao Junling saw Yin Chang's eyes light up and quickly got up and dressed, following him downstairs.

The film and television city brought about development in nearby catering and entertainment industries. There were many restaurants, bars, and KTVs in the area, but since they were not closed to outsiders Yin Chang rarely went out. Even when he went out to eat with other actors, they only went to restaurants that served only crew members.

This was the first time Yin Chang took Shao Junling out since Shao Junling came to the set. They arrived at a hot pot restaurant Yin Chang had been to before and he handed the menu to Shao Junling, "Order whatever you want."

This sentence was ordinary, but Yin Chang's attitude was domineering. It was like he didn't hand him a menu but a map of a thousand miles and said, "Tell me where you want to go, and I'll take you."

Looking at his brother's current demeanor, Shao Junling felt it was refreshing, "Are you in a good mood today?"

Yin Chang smiled. "Cao Cao died, and I became the Wei Kingdom king."

Shao Junling: "..." He leveled up!

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🍁 Vignette

Shao Junling was planning to launch an attack on his brother... but suddenly realized: "Oh, brother has changed again!"

He quickly withdrew his claws and picked up his notebook to jot down: "Observation Diary for Strats for Pursuing Brother, Phase Three."

🍁 Translator’s Note:

💕 Chapter #5 sponsored by Yaara. Thank you! 💕

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The Perfect Relationship Ch 104

  🍁 The Perfect Relationship 🍁 by Xi He Qing Ling

Chapter 104: Reap What You Sow

When Shao Junling entered the room, Yin Chang was already in a deep, silent slumber.

But rather than sleeping, it was more accurate to say he was feverish to the point of being unconscious...

Shao Junling walked to the side of the bed and stared at Yin Chang for a while before muttering to himself, "You've lost weight."

"Give me your backpack." Lu Lingjuan walked over.

Shao Junling took off his backpack and went to wash his hands in the bathroom. When he came back out, he saw that Lu Lingjuan had already placed a chair next to the bed.

Shao Junling sat down and used the back of his hand to feel Yin Chang's forehead. He lowered his voice and asked Lu Lingjuan, "Did he get sick on the day Aunt Yao called me?"

"No, it started last night," Lu Lingjuan said as she poured a glass of water for Shao Junling. "His temperature didn't drop below 39 degrees the whole night, and he was given IV and glucose for a whole day and night. The fever only barely lowered in the evening. He's been sleeping all day today and hasn't eaten anything..."

Lu Lingjuan sighed and recounted Yin Chang's state over the past few months, including his chronic insomnia and deep immersion into his character, as well as the possible psychological aftermath that Aunt Yao mentioned to her the day before. It was only after this that Shao Junling understood why Aunt Yao wanted him to call Yin Chang every day.

If Shao Junling was still abroad, Lu Lingjuan wouldn't have described everything in such detail. After all, distant water can't put out a nearby fire. But now that he was back and would be staying for more than just a day or two, she naturally had to seize this opportunity to speak her mind.

It was also a way of justifying herself. Lu Lingjuan knew how much Shao Junling cared for Yin Chang, and he had only been overseas for less than four months. If his brother was like this when he returned, whom would he blame for taking care of him? So, she told Shao Junling about everything to let him know that she had done her best and was close to exhaustion.

Unexpectedly, Shao Junling remained very calm while listening to her, with no sign of anger on his face. After hearing everything, he even smiled.

Lu Lingjuan couldn't see the bitterness hidden in that smile. All she saw was Shao Junling reaching out a hand and lightly stroking Yin Chang's brow, quietly saying four words, "Reap what you sow."

Lu Lingjuan: "..."

Shao Junling then asked her, "Is there anything we need to pay attention to at night?"

"Hmm?" Lu Lingjuan was still lost in thought over Shao Junling's excessive calmness.

Seeing her weary appearance, Shao Junling realized that she had probably been taking care of Yin Chang without rest for a long time. He said, "You go rest tonight. I'll watch over him."

Lu Lingjuan was touched by this, but she didn't forget that it was her job. She instinctively said, "It's okay, you've just been on a long flight..."

A possessive look in Shao Junling's eyes interrupted her still unfinished sentence. Lu Lingjuan immediately understood that Shao Junling was not showing concern for her, but was actually telling her to leave...

"Um..." Lu Lingjuan quickly changed her words, "You need to take his temperature every two hours and change the cooling patch frequently. Also, people who have a fever tend to feel thirsty; your brother may wake up in the middle of the night and ask for water. Remember to boil some water and keep it ready. If his temperature goes above 39 degrees, we need to call the doctor to continue the IV...there isn't much else to do for now. If you have any questions, just call me."

After Lu Lingjuan left, Shao Junling looked at Yin Chang and let out a barely audible sigh.

He admitted that when he kissed Yin Chang at the airport that day, he had been a little impulsive because his brother had watched him leave with such reluctance...

But he didn't regret what he did. Now that he had realized his own feelings and had set his sights on the person he wanted, what difference did it make if his brother knew earlier or later?

Knowing earlier, the worst that could happen was that his brother would deny everything and drive him away - but before Shao Junling even made a move, his brother had already forced him to go abroad. He hadn't had much to lose.

Kissing his brother before leaving would at least give his brother some time to think about why he did it.

But Shao Junling didn't expect that his brother had already known about the first time he kissed him...

Three months ago, when he saw the chat history between Yin Chang and Mi Xiu on the AI cloud, Shao Junling's brain was in chaos.

He couldn't help but wonder if his brother knew who he would dream about in junior high, or if he remembered what happened when he got drunk Shao Junling’s sophomore year. Was his brother playing dumb this whole time just to avoid awkwardness?

But since Yin Chang knew about it, why did he still ask him to go abroad? And why did he say things like "he should have his own life"?

After he realized that his brother intended to drive him out of his world, Shao Junling was so angry that he almost lost it and intended to fly back immediately to confront Yin Chang. But in the end, reason prevailed and he gritted his teeth, and decided to wait a little longer.

He had already learned through the AI that Yin Chang had trouble sleeping because of him and felt somewhat comforted. He decided to wait, and see how long Yin Chang could hold on.

Later on, the Yin Chang chatted less and less with Xiao Ling so Shao Junling knew less and less. He thought it meant his brother had moved on from depending on him, and his heart felt suffocated.

It felt like a contest to see who was more heartless. Shao Junling even considered not returning to China before graduating from university.

He suppressed his feelings of yearning and didn't call Yin Chang, burying himself in his studies.

Until two days ago, when he received a call from Yao Manhuai...

Now, seeing his brother lying in front of him so weakly, Shao Junling's mental defenses completely collapsed, feeling like his heart was being stabbed with a knife.

...In character? When he heard Lu Lingjuan's explanation, Shao Junling finally admitted to himself in his heart: Brother, whether or not you plan to leave me in the end, I won't let go of you again.

***

Yin Chang felt hot and cold all over, feeling like a mayfly in a vast ocean...

The battlefield was full of flames and smoke, filled with cunning schemes and conspiracies. A wave struck, and he was swept into the depths of the sea, looking up to shout for help, but it was like someone was choking his throat and he couldn't make a sound.

In despair, he felt someone pulling him up.

He struggled hard, desperately swimming towards the surface, the light getting brighter and brighter in front of him...

The moment he saw daylight again, Yin Chang gasped for breath, turning around to look for the one who saved him, but he saw a figure that didn't belong in this world...

He opened his eyes in a daze, unable to distinguish whether it was reality or a dream.

"Brother..."

Confirming it was the voice he missed, Yin Chang unconsciously smiled.

Is this still a dream? How did this guy show up here?

Shao Junling looked at Yin Chang's unfocused eyes, softened his heart, and hugged the other's head, gently rubbing his brother's head and coaxing him like a hypnotist: "Sleep a little longer."

Yin Chang quickly closed his eyes and fell asleep again, but this time he held on tightly to Shao Junling's hand and didn't let go.

He slept for a full six hours this time, with no nightmares to disturb him.

At seven o'clock, Lu Lingjuan knocked gently on the door with breakfast in hand. Seeing Shao Junling, she asked softly, "How are things? Is he feeling better?"

"Well," Shao Junling looked at the time, "His temperature started to drop at two in the morning. An hour ago, his temperature dropped to 37.3 degrees."

"That's great! Did he get up in the middle of the night?" Lu Lingjuan asked eagerly.

"He woke up once shortly after you left but fell asleep again, didn't drink any water, and slept until now," Shao Junling explained.

Lu Lingjuan looked at Shao Junling like she was looking at a living Buddha. She took a step forward, intending to check on Yin Chang, but was stopped by Shao Junling: "It's not convenient right now."

"Not convenient?" Lu Lingjuan was puzzled.

"I've wiped him down..." Shao Junling explained.

"Oh, oh!" Lu Lingjuan blushed and quickly retreated.

Shao Junling took the breakfast from Lu Lingjuan's hand, "Don't you have to go to work today?"

"No, no need. The director came to see Yin Chang yesterday and gave him three days off since he was so sick," Lu Lingjuan nodded.

"Then I'll call you when he wakes up," Shao Junling said.

"Okay, okay!" Lu Lingjuan left happily.

Once Lu Lingjuan retreated to the door, Shao Junling closed the door in front of her without any hesitation.

Lu Lingjuan dubiously wondered if she was getting her job stolen again…

Yin Chang slept for another half an hour before waking up. He felt dry and comfortable all over, instead of sticky and sweaty from his nightmares.

He realized it may have been the first time in several months that he slept so soundly.

His spirits were fully replenished, his face had a bit of a glow, and his lips had some color.

Moreover, Yin Chang was woken up by the scent of food. He was hungry and looked up, but saw a figure that shouldn't be here.

"Shao Junling!?" Yin Chang was shocked and sat up.

Shao Junling put a pillow behind him and handed him clean clothes to change into.

Yin Chang was too surprised by the series of actions to ask any questions. He was overjoyed and his mind was filled with various explanations. After putting on his clothes and sitting in front of the warm heater, Yin Chang finally spoke: "How... how did you get here? When did you come? Wait... Who brought you back?"

By this time, Shao Junling had already sat down in front of him with a bowl of fresh fish congee and fed him a spoonful without saying a word.

Yin Chang accepted the spoonful and swallowed before reacting. He felt embarrassed and shy that he let his younger brother feed him. He said indignantly, "I can do it myself..."

Shao Junling ignored him and quickly fed him another spoonful. Yin Chang ate it, feeling full and satisfied with the warm liquid filling up his empty stomach.

Shao Junling kept feeding him spoonfuls of congee, and only after feeding him half a bowl did he smile and teased, "Brother, without me, what would you do?"

Yin Chang: "..."

Yin Chang was so angry that he snatched the bowl of congee away from him: "Give it to me, I'll eat it myself!"

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🍁 Vignette

Shao Junling seeing Yin Chang: Brother, it's only been three months, how did you become like this?

🍁 Translator’s Note:

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The Perfect Relationship Ch 103

  🍁 The Perfect Relationship 🍁 by Xi He Qing Ling

Chapter 103: Immersed in the Role

It was already late at night when Luo Chuan directly arranged to meet Yao Manhuai at the VIP bar in the hotel that only allowed actors from the crew to enter. He told her to give his name at the entrance. When he went down, Yao Manhuai was already sitting by the window waiting for him. She was wearing professional attire, had refined makeup on, and frowned as she smoked.

Luo Chuan was stunned for a moment, and then walked straight over. He only spoke after sitting down. "Ms. Yao, long time no see."

Without questioning Luo Chuan's flirtatious tone, Yao Manhuai immediately asked, "You came to help me, but you target my people?"

"Your people?" Luo Chuan laughed. "Tsk, sounds like you gave birth to them. . ."

Yao Manhuai didn't change her expression, "So what?"

"He now calls me 'father.' If you say he's yours, then what are we?" Luo Chuan countered.

"What's your age? Is it fun to take advantage of words like this?" Yao Manhuai asked.

After some teasing, Luo Chuan called the waiter and ordered whiskey and Baileys.

Once the drinks arrived, Luo Chuan swirled his glass and asked Yao Manhuai, "Do you know what I still regret?"

"Never being able to beat Yin Dong," Yao Manhuai replied.

"No, " Luo Chuan took a sip of his drink and looked at her, "I regret that you fell for Yin Dong back then instead of me."

Yao Manhuai's fingers trembled a bit, but she didn't say anything.

"He's been gone for so many years, and you're still taking care of his two sons. Why bother?" Luo Chuan continued.

Luo Chuan didn't know the true identities of Yin Chang and Shao Junling: one was an adopted son, and the other was a nephew. In fact, neither of them were Yin Dong's biological children.

Yao Manhuai didn't explain either. She put out her half-finished cigarette and lifted the Baileys Luo Chuan had ordered for her, saying lightly, "I'm not taking care of them... They grew up taking care of each other."

Luo Chuan glanced at her. "Then why do you care so much?"

"Probably just a habit," Yao Manhuai smiled bitterly. "I just visited Yin Chang, and he doesn't seem to be doing well. His assistant complained to me about how you've been bullying him since you came to the crew."

"I bullied him?" Luo Chuan laughed, "I turned down Qi Xin's film just to bring that kid, who was my mortal enemy at the time, to act in this drama. If this were to spread out, the entire entertainment industry would have to give me a 'kindness' award."

Yao Manhuai clinked her glass with his. "So, I'm giving you a chance to right your wrongs."

Luo Chuan was still angry. "Besides, how much did I suffer in front of Yin Dong because of you back then? What's wrong with bullying his son a little?"

"Did you bully him?" Yao Manhuai asked.

"On the first day," Luo Chuan avoided Yao Manhuai's gaze, "I made him call me 'Dad' a few more times."

"..." Yao Manhuai didn't say anything.

Luo Chuan continued, "His acting was not good at first, and those movies he acted in before were so bad, yet they had high box office ratings. It's an insult to my eyes."

"..." Yao Manhuai remained silent.

Feeling Yao Manhuai's stare piercing through him, Luo Chuan quickly changed the subject. "Anyway, I admit he's really talented. He's absorbed in the role now. This state is something that many actors can't ask for."

"Are you saying that his current state is influenced by the role?" Yao Manhuai asked.

Knowing that Yao Manhuai understood, Luo Chuan didn't explain further, "I'm not worried about him now, but I'm a little worried about him in the future."

"Why?" Yao Manhuai asked.

"Immersive acting is very damaging to actors, especially for these types of roles that are full of sorrow and endurance. Even professional actors sometimes need a little time to get out of character... I see Yin Chang these past two days. He only has vitality on set. Once filming is done, he looks like his soul has left his body. This is a bit dangerous."

Yao Manhuai's expression became serious. "What should we do?"

Luo Chuan pointed to a solution. "I suggest you arrange a personal assistant for him, preferably someone he completely trusts in real life. They can talk to him and force him to speak even if he doesn't want to. But don't talk about this drama. That way, when the drama is finished, he'll feel like he has something to rely on in reality and he can come out faster... Otherwise, he might never come out." 

After separating from Luo Chuan, Yao Manhuai immediately went back to find Lu Lingjuan to ask her to chat with Yin Chang every night.

Lu Lingjuan was at her wit's end. "I want to accompany him, but Yin Chang doesn't even pay attention to me."

Yao Manhuai was confused, "he ignores you?"

"I talk to him, but he zones out. And once he's done with filming, he just wants to lie down. I don't want to disturb him by talking to myself, in case it affects his rest," Lu Lingjuan told Yao Manhuai all the methods she had tried, "I even asked Mi Xiu to help, him and Yin Chang are close, but now even Mi Xiu doesn't dare to approach Yin Chang. He says that Yin Chang's gaze makes him a little scared."

Yao Manhuai replied, "..."

Lu Lingjuan continued, "At first, he would talk to 'Xiao Ling' when he got back to his room every day, but now he rarely speaks."

Yao Manhuai asked, "Who's Xiao Ling?"

"Yin Chang's younger brother made a chat bot for him, named 'Xiao Ling'," Lu Lingjuan explained.

Yao Manhuai suddenly had an idea, murmuring, "Right, Shao Junling... we can ask Shao Junling to call Yin Chang every day."

Lu Lingjuan lamented, "Ms. Yao, it's not a good idea. Yin Chang seriously told me not to let Shao Junling call or tell him about his insomnia, he said it would affect his brother's studies."

Yao Manhuai replied, "..."

"If we don't call him when there's no problem, won't there be a problem later?" Yao Manhuai said with a dark face. She asked Lu Lingjuan to dial Shao Junling's number overseas. "Junling, are you busy lately?" 

"Auntie Yao?" Shao Junling received Yao Manhuai's call while on his way to school. He knew that this woman wouldn't call him for no reason, so he stopped and his expression became serious. "What's wrong? Just tell me."

Yao Manhuai didn't explain too seriously and only asked him to call Yin Chang every day. Because of the time difference, when Yin Chang goes to sleep at night, it's morning for Shao Junling, which shouldn't affect his studies.

After hanging up the phone, Lu Lingjuan asked urgently, "What did he say?"

"He said got it," Yao Manhuai recalled how Shao Junling listened to her request in silence, then said, "Give me two days," before hanging up. "He's probably busy these two days."

Lu Lingjuan breathed a sigh of relief, but she didn't dare to reveal to Yin Chang that they had called Shao Junling.

Recently, Yin Chang's performance on set was increasingly outstanding, making rapid progress. The next day he had a scene with Luo Chuan, and Yin Chang's state of mind was explosive. He didn't fall behind Luo Chuan in the confrontation, and many actors who were watching cheered "amazing" after the shoot.

But the price of this outbreak was that Yin Chang fell ill.

That night, he had a fever of 39 degrees and was lying in bed murmuring. But even in his dream, he recited his lines. The doctor who came to give him an IV greatly admired the young man's work ethic.

Lu Lingjuan was worried sick. She monitored the IV drip all day, but his temperature didn't go down. She was sitting by his bed, thinking about changing the cooling pad on his forehead, when her phone rang.

Seeing the caller ID was "Shao Junling," Lu Lingjuan inwardly groaned. He wasn't available earlier or later, but now he's calling when his brother can't even pick up?

"Hello?" she pretended to be calm. At this point, she didn't want to tell Shao Junling about Yin Chang's illness and worry him unnecessarily.

But to her surprise, Shao Junling said on the other end, "Sister Lu, I'm at the Hai Cheng International Airport now. Can you send me the location of the set? I'll call a car over."

Three hours later, Lu Lingjuan saw Shao Junling downstairs in the hotel and was shocked incredulous.

Shao Junling carried a backpack and dragged a suitcase with him, looking exhausted from the long journey.

When he got closer, Lu Lingjuan looked up at him and said, "Did you...grow taller?"

Shao Junling didn't answer, instead asked, "Where's my brother?"

Feeling guilty, Lu Lingjuan couldn't bring herself to tell him about Yin Chang's illness, "He's sick and lying in bed."

Shao Junling furrowed his brows deeply. Lu Lingjuan didn't dare say more and led him to the elevator. Yin Chang's room was on the 12th floor, and on the way up she asked, "Why did you suddenly come back?"

Shao Junling replied, "Christmas holiday starts next week, so I finished my project early and bought a plane ticket."

Lu Lingjuan was overjoyed, "How long can you stay?"

Shao Junling said, "One month."

Lu Lingjuan's face beamed with excitement, "That's fantastic!"

🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁

🍁 Translator’s Note:

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The Perfect Relationship Ch 101

  🍁 The Perfect Relationship 🍁 by Xi He Qing Ling

Chapter 101: Yin Dong's Rival

That night after Mi Xiu listened to what he said, he only asked one question: "Do you have feelings for him?"

Yin Chang felt bitter in his heart...how would it even be possible to not have feelings for him?

He was the younger brother he had watched grow up. He gave him all the tenderness and care he could give these past several years. Watching him gradually pick up his own habits, watching him grow stronger and spread his wings.

But when he looked down at the shackle of promise on the young eagle's foot, he was shocked to realize that his love for his younger brother had become a burden for him to leave.

Yin Chang was aware of his influence on Shao Junling. As long as he said he missed him, Shao Junling would immediately come back. With a single word, he could easily change his younger brother's life trajectory.

Because of this, he needed to restrain himself.

When he saw Shao Junling's bright eyes while discussing AI design, he couldn't bear for him to give up his dreams for him.

What was losing a little bit of sleep compared to Shao Junling's dream and happiness? It was completely insignificant.

Finally, Yin Chang smiled and did not answer Mi Xiu's question. He only said, "He should have his own life."

After a few years apart, everything would return to as things should be.

Lu Lingjuan peeled a kiwi for Yin Chang and forced him to eat it. She also chatted with him for a while before leaving the room with a worried look.

In the elevator on the way down, she ran into several members of the crew. Lu Lingjuan overheard them excitedly discussing a name and exclaimed, "Who are you guys talking about? Luo Chuan?"

One of them nodded excitedly, "Yeah, we heard that the director invited Luo Chuan to join the cast."

"Luo Chuan...to play Cao Cao?" Lu Lingjuan asked incredulously.

The person replied enthusiastically, "Yes, if he comes, it definitely won't be a problem!"

Lu Lingjuan's mind was in chaos. The young actors and actresses today may not know, but Luo Chuan was Yin Dong's arch-rival back in the day!

Luo Chuan had competed with Yin Dong twice for the Best Actor award, but he was defeated both times. It was rumored that he considered Yin Dong his biggest rival in his acting career, and the two had a bad relationship. But Lu Lingjuan had heard more than once that Luo Chuan's acting skills were actually on par with Yin Dong's, so he was very dissatisfied with losing to Yin Dong. He took time off from acting to adjust his mood.

After Yin Dong's plane crashed four years ago, Luo Chuan came back and won the Inland Best Actor awards two years in a row, becoming the focus of attention.

The year Luo Chuan won the Best Actor award, there were sarcastic netizens in the industry who joked that he had finally emerged after Yin Dong's death. Some people even said that Luo Chuan was the one who had the last laugh…

It was very unpleasant to hear, but it was also a fact.

Lu Lingjuan didn't know what others thought, but she respected Luo Chuan as an actor because a person's rival is usually a standard of measuring their own abilities. Being able to be compared to Yin Dong, Luo Chuan was definitely an admirable actor.

Just meeting him briefly gave Yin Chang a sense of oppression. He felt like Luo Chuan had already transformed into the strict and harsh Cao Cao, while he was the cautious son of the Prime Minister, who was neglected and trembling before the competition for the throne.

Yin Chang refused to go to dinner with Mi Xiu and had Lu Lingjuan buy him a box of food, while he thought about the scene to be filmed the next day.

According to the historical records, Cao Cao had twenty-five children. At first, Cao Ang, Cao Cao's eldest son, was the most likely to be the heir, but he was killed during Cao Cao's southern campaign against Zhang Xiu. At that time, Cao Pi, who had escaped from the chaos, was only ten years old.

The second son who was highly favored by Cao Cao was Cao Pi's half-brother Cao Chong. Cao Chong was a child prodigy with exceptional intelligence and a broad and benevolent nature. Cao Cao already had intentions of letting him inherit the family business when he was young. However, Cao Chong died of illness at the age of thirteen, leaving Cao Cao deeply grieved.

When Cao Chong died, Cao Pi tired to comfort his grieving father but was accused by Cao Cao of benefitting from the tragedy, implying that now that Cao Chong was dead, Cao Pi had no competition for the throne.

Yin Chang tried to understand Cao Pi's emotions, imagining Cao Chong as his own little brother who had just died and how much pain his father felt to say such hurtful words. He felt extremely aggrieved and couldn't sleep at night.

Maybe Yin Chang's haggard appearance was exactly what Cao Pi would be feeling. When he arrived at the set the next day, the director praised him repeatedly.

There weren't many lines in this play, and Yin Chang was already aware of that. During filming, the main focus was emotional expression.

At 8:50 in the morning, the actors in their costumes kneeled in their designated positions, including Luo Chuan who had already finished getting ready.

"'Power Struggles in the Three Kingdoms,' scene 42, first take, action!"

As the stage manager gave the command, Luo Chuan's shoulders shook, and he immediately immersed himself in his role, starting to cry deeply. "My son Chong..."

Yin Chang counted the time in his mind and slowly crawled over to comfort Luo Chuan. "Father..."

However, before the director said "cut," Luo Chuan had already stopped crying and was frowning at him.

Everyone else: "…"

The director seemed to understand Luo Chuan's reaction and gave a signal to the cameraman, and said to Yin Chang, "Yin Chang, your expression can't be just sad. You also need to have a little bit of calm and probing... let's do it again."

Stage manager: "'Power Struggles in the Three Kingdoms,' scene 42, second take, action!"

🍁

As a result, this scene was NGed six times, and four of those times were because Luo Chuan felt that Yin Chang's performance was not right and stopped. On the fifth take, the director felt that it was acceptable, but Luo Chuan still said it wasn't good enough. It wasn't until after the sixth take was stopped that Luo Chuan took a look at the anxious Yin Chang and asked for a half-hour break.

The atmosphere on the set was extremely heavy, and none of the actors could breathe. On Luo Chuan's first day of filming, he had already made Yin Chang repeat the scene six times? If this matter were to be revealed, it would definitely cause a stir in the entertainment industry!

Lu Lingjuan watched from nearby and was about to vomit blood... This Luo Chuan was really something! Seeking revenge for private grievances! He was already 46 years old, and successful, how could he still be like this!

After Yin Chang came down from the stage, Lu Lingjuan quickly handed him a bottle of water and rubbed his shoulders, encouraging him, "I think you did really well and your emotions were good..." However, she couldn't share what she suspected about Luo Chuan's motives, afraid that Yin Chang would feel even more pressure. She just said, "Keep it up, and good luck."

Yin Chang didn't listen. Although he was embarrassed to NG so much, he didn't suspect that Luo Chuan was deliberately making it difficult for him. It wasn't just Luo Chuan who said he wasn't doing well, the director had also been frowning.

So where was he going wrong?

Yin Chang closed his eyes and reflected on the director's words. Suddenly, a flash of enlightenment came to him - if Shao Junling had died young like Cao Chong, his pain would definitely not be less than that of Yin Dong. Being in that state, how could he still calmly comfort Cao Cao? By comforting Cao Cao, it meant that he didn't really love his little brother and saw him as his competitor. After his little brother died, he was both sad and happy. That's why Cao Cao said that sentence to him, "The death of Cao Chong is my misfortune and your good fortune." When he heard this sentence, his heart should be filled with the fear of being seen through by his father, as well as the frustration of being looked down upon.

Yin Chang reset his mind and telling himself that Cao Chong was not Shao Junling, and Cao Cao was not Yin Dong...

He quickly forgot his old associations and constructed a new image in his mind: a younger brother who threatened his life and a father who was always partial and suspicious... The precarious life of power struggles...

When he opened his eyes again, Yin Chang's gaze had become gloomy and ferocious.

The half-hour break was over quickly, and the actors went back on stage.

When Luo Chuan passed by Yin Chang, he saw his expression and whispered, "Show some wolfish attitude. Who is Cao Cao? He saw through your ambitions a long time ago."

Yin Chang lowered his eyelashes and nodded indifferently.

"'Power Struggles in the Three Kingdoms,' scene 42, seventh take, action!"

Five minutes later, the director was surprised and clapped. "Very good!"

After the filming ended that day, Luo Chuan returned to his hotel room. His assistant took off his coat and handed him a glass of white wine. "When I came up just now, I heard some young people downstairs talking about you."

Luo Chuan: "What did they say?"

Assistant: "They said that you couldn't compete against Yin Dong in the past and were deliberately making it difficult for his son today."

Luo Chuan raised an eyebrow, pretending to be angry. "Am I that kind of person?"

The assistant smiled meaningfully. "Well, if you say you're not, then you're not. They wouldn't dare say it to your face."

Luo Chuan walked towards the window with his wine glass, looking pensive.

The assistant tried to probe him again, "Is the invincible one too lonely?"

This was something Luo Chuan had often said after winning an award and returning to work. Although he hadn't mentioned it in the past two years, the people around him still used it as a joke.

Luo Chuan gave her a sideways glance, and she immediately shrank her neck and fell silent.

After taking a sip of his wine, Luo Chuan looked back out the window and slowly smiled. "To be honest, when Yin Chang called me 'father,' it felt really good..."

Assistant: "..."

🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁

🍁 Translator’s Note:

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The Perfect Relationship Ch 102

  🍁 The Perfect Relationship 🍁 by Xi He Qing Ling

Chapter 102 Entering the play

Yin Chang's assistant, Lu Lingjuan, knocked on the door of Mi Xiu's room with a worried expression.

"Mi Xiu, can you please talk to Yin Chang?" Lu Lingjuan pleaded at the door. "He only spoke to me three times since he left the set and hasn't had dinner. I'm really worried."

Mi Xiu shook his phone helplessly. "I just sent him a message on WeChat, but he hasn't replied."

Lu Lingjuan knew that Yin Chang and Mi Xiu had a good relationship, so she came to ask for help.

Mi Xiu told Lu Lingjuan, "Go down and buy two bottles of Gatorade for him to drink, I'll go see him after I eat my boxed meal."

Lu Lingjuan nodded gratefully and ran downstairs.

Mi Xiu was also present for the daytime scenes and suspected that Luo Chuan was targeting Yin Chang. After filming, he patted Yin Chang's shoulder to comfort him. But at that time, there were too many people, and it was not easy to talk. Later, in the dressing room, Mi Xiu had tried to talk to Yin Chang about other topics, but Yin Chang had been absent-minded.

After dinner, Mi Xiu went to Yin Chang's room. Lu Lingjuan came up from downstairs and handed the Gatorade directly to Mi Xiu.

As the door opened, Mi Xiu greeted Yin Chang with a smile, but was caught off guard by the piercing gaze from Yin Chang. Mi Xiu froze for a moment.

Fortunately, the gaze was fleeting, and Yin Chang stepped aside to let him in.

"I heard you didn't have dinner?" Mi Xiu took the initiative to ask teasingly. "What happened? Something bothering you?"

"Nothing." Yin Chang's voice was low.

With only the two of them in the room now, Mi Xiu no longer held back and asked directly, "Because of Luo Chuan?"

Yin Chang was taken aback for a moment, and looked confused. "What?"

Seeing Yin Chang's reaction, Mi Xiu felt less sure about his guess. After all, this was not Yin Chang's first time filming. In the past, he had experienced some occasional teasing and ridicule from the old experienced actors who didn't like the popular stars. But Mi Xiu knew that Yin Chang was a magnanimous person and rarely took things to heart except for problems regarding his family and close friends.

As expected, Yin Chang misunderstood Mi Xiu, and nodded, "Luo Chuan's acting skills are indeed remarkable and outstanding."

Mi Xiu quickly clarified, "No, that's not it. Did you know that this morning everyone was gossiping like crazy about you and Luo Chuan? Several of my group chats were blowing up. They dug up the history between Luo Chuan and your father and said that Luo Chuan was deliberately targeting you."

Yin Chang was stunned for a moment and then laughed out loud, "What does that have to do with anything?"

Mi Xiu said, "But today your mood was obviously not good. This wasn't the reason?"

Yin Chang slowly put away his smile and said in a low voice, "My previous interpretation of Cao Pi was completely wrong. I can't detach myself from the characters I play, and today... " He paused and reminisced about the feeling on set. "Today, I finally feel that I am the character."

"You're getting into character?" Mi Xiu looked at him confusedly.

Yin Chang remained silent for a moment before saying, "It feels like my body has been taken over. My actions are completely out of my control and are controlled by the character I play... Cao Pi."

Since that morning's scene of mourning Cao Chong's death, his brain had subconsciously been mulling over Cao Pi's past, from following his father in wars in the north and south, seeing the tragic scenes of bloodshed and war, to witnessing his older brother, Cao Ang, dying to save his father, while he himself survived by fleeing... He was then suspected by his father and became useless, while his talented younger brothers were praised... The fear, inferiority, and the urgent desire to be recognized were suffocating him...

All the details gained new meaning at the moment of realizing his misinterpretation.

And this state was brought out by Luo Chuan.

That morning, with the six consecutive NGs, and Luo Chuan's constant pursuit of excellence with his "not quite right" feedback, he ultimately achieved a breakthrough.

But unlike actor-king Luo Chuan, Yin Chang couldn't detach himself from the emotions of his character Cao Pi even after leaving the set. He often spaced out and even now, while chatting with Mi Xiu, he felt like half of his soul was being invaded by Cao Pi.

Yin Chang looked up at Mi Xiu, his entire being shrouded in a self-protective barrier. He appeared cold and callous on the outside, and asked Mi Xiu, "Have you ever experienced this feeling while acting?"

Mi Xiu replied, "No."

Yin Chang gave a hollow chuckle, a faint and rare melancholy permeating his smile. "I don't know what's going on, but I think I should thank Luo Chuan."

After leaving Yin Chang's room, Mi Xiu also found himself lost in thought. His manager mentioned recording a program in H City on the weekend, but she noticed that he wasn't quite himself. She couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong? Yin Chang's in a bad mood and now you are too?"

Mi Xiu earnestly asked his manager, "What do you think of my acting abilities?"

She replied, "It's good enough, but compared to your singing and dancing skills, it's quite inferior."

Mi Xiu continued, "And what about my acting compared to Yin Chang's?"

"It's about the same," his manager gave him a glance and said, "The purpose of this drama is to attract viewers with you and Yin Chang's star power. Your main occupation is still that of a singer and dancer, so there's no need to stress too much."

"Star power?" Mi Xiu flopped down on his bed and laughed. "Well then, they definitely got their money's worth. Yin Chang is more than capable of attracting viewers."

"What do you mean?" his manager asked. "Do you think Yin Chang has good acting abilities?"

Mi Xiu did not answer her question, instead said, "There was a young star who once envied me saying, 'Some people's efforts cannot compete against some people's talent.' I think I understand the meaning of that phrase now. But to feel this fact is truly a disheartening experience..."

His manager smiled and said, "Philosopher Mi are you feeling insecure?"

Mi Xiu crossed his legs and sneered, "Me? Insecure? Don't make me laugh. Just give me a microphone and I can move mountains."

The next day, Yin Chang returned to the set, where Luo Chuan's unique form of severity continued. It seemed that the director agreed with Luo Chuan now and if Yin Chang's performance was lacking in any way, he would be asked to do it again.

The cast and crew could feel a palpable change in Yin Chang's behavior off the set. He was polite but distant, emotionally removed from everyone. Yin Chang was less prone to laugh and rarely spoke, even with Mi Xiu, whom he usually got along with well.

After filming, he would return alone to his room and avoid any social activities.

Lu Lingjuan secretly confided to everyone that Yin Chang was having trouble sleeping, so he tried to rest as much as possible after filming. Everyone could see how "tormented" Yin Chang was by Luo Chuan on set and sympathized with him.

However, no one was more worried about Yin Chang's situation than Lu Lingjuan. She called Yao Manhuai several times and finally, Manhuai visited the set.

That night, after seeing Yin Chang, Manhuai left him alone because he was already asleep. Although he was not sleeping soundly, due to his lack of sleep, he was too tired to engage with anyone.

Manhuai didn't disturb Yin Chang and quietly left the room. She then called Luo Chuan, "I'm at your set. Can we meet?"

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🍁 Translator’s Note:

💕 Chapter #2 sponsored by Yaara. Thank you! 💕

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The Perfect Relationship Ch 100

  🍁 The Perfect Relationship 🍁 by Xi He Qing Ling

Chapter 100: Not the First Time

Shao Junling chose to live in the San Francisco L university student dorms with his roommate He Hongjun instead of renting a house off campus like the other wealthy students. These dorms were shared by four or five people. Each student had their own room, and shared bathrooms, kitchen, and study rooms. He Hongjun lived next door to Shao Junling.

Within the first ten days since Shao Junling arrived, he completed all the necessary procedures and started attending classes. His self-disciplined and meticulously planned lifestyle made it easy for him to adapt to the new environment without feeling too much pressure.

He exercised in the morning, then studied, and checked the chatbot AI cloud for any new records it collected that day. His peaceful face occasionally showed a faint smile when he was browsing through the information, and those who knew Shao Junling before would not believe that this normally serious boy could have such a gentle expression.

But suddenly, Shao Junling's expression changed as he read something on the screen, and before he could respond to a knock on his door, He Hongjun pushed the door open.

"Shao Junling, want to go eat?" He Hongjun asked. He saw that Shao Junling was sitting in front of his computer, leaning back in his chair and staring at an invisible point on the wall.

"Huh, what's wrong?" He Hongjun knew Shao Junling well and recognized that the boy had a habit of staring like that when he was deep in thought.

"Nothing," Shao Junling quickly regained his composure, closed the lid on his sparkling water bottle, grabbed his jacket, and started to leave. "Let's go eat first."

As they walked, He Hongjun talked about some professional topics and mentioned that there was a party at a Spanish bar near the school that weekend, organized by the freshman club. Shao Junling seemed to be out of it the entire time.

"Hey, Shao Junling, what are you thinking about?" He Hongjun asked irritably and hit him on the arm.

"Oh, nothing," Shao Junling replied absentmindedly, but he had heard every word.

"School just started, what could you be busy with?" He Hongjun was confused, "Are you making something for your brother again?"

"Yes," Shao Junling did not deny it.

"......" He Hongjun was speechless. Shao Junling furrowed his brow, "But you won't be able to help this time."

"Who said I wanted to help you!" He Hongjun protested.

🍁

After just a week, the news of the AI that Shao Junling gave to his brother spread throughout the entire set.

The director walked into the makeup room and asked, "Yinchang, I heard your brother gave you an AI?"

Yinchang didn't know how the news got out, but it wasn't from Mi Xiu. Yinchang had heard the other people at the dinner table talk about "Xiaoling" before, but they didn't know exactly what the egg did, just that it called Yinchang "big brother."

Moreover, Yinchang was apparently known to be obsessed with his younger brother by everyone in the entertainment industry, and now that he carried the "egg" around with him all the time, it had become a topic of conversation on set.

"Where's the AI?" The director asked eagerly.

The girl doing Yinchang's makeup pointed to the table and said with a smile, "Director Wu, why are you looking at it like that? It's right here."

The director stared at the egg-shaped object with surprise and asked, "Is this an AI?"

People who had never seen AI always had special expectations of it. Yinchang had no choice but to demonstrate Xiaoling's ability to call him "big brother" in front of the director. The director was satisfied, "Interesting, interesting."

Just then, a worker rushed in and said, "Director Wu, there's trouble!"

"What's wrong?" The director frowned.

"Professor Shi just fell off a horse and it might be serious!" The worker said anxiously.

The director's face changed, "Shi Jiande?"

Not only the director, but everyone in the makeup room was alarmed. Shi Jiande was the actor who played Cao Cao.  He was almost fifty years old, had excellent acting skills, and was a veteran respected by everyone on set.  The first half of "China Power Struggle" was set around Cao Cao and the relationship between the Han dynasty. Undeniably, his role was extremely important.

The director followed the worker outside, and Yinchang anxiously followed. They were shooting a scene today where Cao Cao led his army to fight in the north and south, and if Shi Jiande was injured, they couldn't film.

Half an hour later, the workers returned to the makeup room and told them that Shi Jiande had broken a bone and that today's filming was cancelled. Everyone realized that this was not something that could be resolved in one or two days. If it was only a minor injury, they could wait for Shi Jiande to rest for a few days and adjust the shooting sequence. However, with this injury, it would take at least a hundred days to recover.

"We're done, we're done. We have to replace the actor," someone said worriedly.

"But who can we find who has such a long schedule and excellent acting skills like Professor Shi?" someone else asked.

“Maybe we should move up the scenes after Cao Cao’s death.”

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As the crew members chattered beside him, Yin Chang’s heart was racing. The major scenes after Cao Cao’s death were all him, and Cao Pi’s external image and internal emotions were completely different during his time as a Military Officer of the Fifth Rank and later as Emperor of Wei.

Yin Chang had already figured out the scenes from Cao Pi’s youth, but adjusting his mindset in a short amount of time was no easy task.

In the afternoon, the crew held an emergency meeting. Finally, the decision was made to find a new actor to play Cao Cao and prepare for the next stage of the production. But before that, to minimize losses, the director asked Yin Chang and others to finish the remaining scenes without Cao Cao.

Due to this unexpected event, many actors were forced to take a break and Yin Chang’s daily shooting amount was greatly reduced. However, the increase in rest time could not relieve the mental pressure and exhaustion he felt from several days of insomnia.

That evening, Lu Lingjuan bought some kiwi and brought it to Yin Chang’s room. She had a key card to his room and knocked on the door but heard no response. She swiped her key card and came in.

"I'm coming in." Lu Lingjuan stood at the door and greeted, but heard no response. She walked in and saw Yin Chang lying weakly on the bed, massaging his temples.

"Juanjuan?" He opened his eyes slightly, speaking softly. He wasn't ignoring Lu Lingjuan, he just didn't have the energy to respond.

Lu Lingjuan was startled. "Are you okay?"

Yin Chang tried to sit up. "Just a little headache."

Lu Lingjuan said quickly, "Don't get up, just lie down."

Yin Chang stopped struggling, and Lu Lingjuan went to the bathroom to get a warm towel, "Is it because of the insomnia?"

She knew about Yin Chang's recent problem, so she bought him kiwi because she heard it helped with sleep.

"I'm not sure, it could be a side effect of the sleeping pills..." Yin Chang put the towel on his forehead, feeling a little more comfortable.

"Can you hold on?" Lu Lingjuan worried.

Yin Chang smiled weakly. "Sis, I'm only twenty-five, don't make me sound like I'm fifty-two."

Lu Lingjuan glared at him. Because he was only twenty-five, Yin Chang could still bear it. However, she, in her thirties, knew all too well the damage that sleep deprivation and staying up could do to a person's body. In her younger days, she was fearless and confident, but if she stayed up all night now, she would have an elevated heart rate and feel like she was dead when she finally fell asleep.

"You can't go on like this... This drama will take eight months to film. How can you endure it with insomnia every day?"

"...I know."

In fact, Yin Chang hadn't thought the problem was this serious. When Mi Xiu told him on WeChat that he was screwed, Yin Chang thought he was exaggerating. Wasn't it just a habit? After a while, everything would be fine again. Before Shao Junling appeared in his life, he slept well every day, even without him. That was what Yin Chang thought, and he was proven completely wrong by the cruel reality after Shao Junling left.

After half a month on set, his quality of sleep had steadily decreased, and even with three tablets of melatonin before bed, he couldn't sleep. He had Lu Lingjuan get him some sleeping pills, which he tried for the first time three days ago. He finally fell asleep that night, but the next day he started having migraines.

Yin Chang finally admitted that Mi Xiu was right.

After finishing filming for the day and returning to his room in the evening, Yin Chang was lying on the bed lost in thought. He remembered that ever since the plane crash involving Yin Dong, he had often had trouble sleeping. This symptom worsened when he found out that he might not be Yin Dong's biological son and that Yin Dong had a secret child. Sleeping troubles continued until he brought Shao Junling home, because even though he didn't like Shao Junling much at first, he felt that this child was just as alone and similarly connected to himself.

Later, when Shao Junling's future came into question, Yin Chang realized that his little brother would eventually leave him, and it was time for him to leave. When Yin Chang realized this, he seemed to fall back into the same sense of loneliness he felt when his father abandoned him, which made him anxious and restless.

However, these were not the main reasons for Yin Chang's troubled state of mind.

The main reason was what Shao Junling did to him in the car on the day he went to the airport...

The night Mi Xiu came to his room to play AI, they not only talked about insomnia but also about the kissing incident with Shao Junling.

"He kissed you on the mouth??" Mi Xiu's jaw dropped.

"Mm," Yin Chang smiled bitterly, "and he even said, 'kiss me again before I leave'." 💥💥

"Is this the first time he's kissed you?" Mi Xiu asked.

"No, many years ago, when he got up early to go running, I grabbed him and said 'kiss before you go'... I was half asleep and I wanted to kiss his forehead. Later when he came back from his run and saw me asleep, he kissed me..."

"..."

"Anyway," Yin Chang coughed, "I thought he was too young at the time and didn't really think anything of it. But now, he's seventeen. He's not the type of person to make these kinds of jokes. I'm thinking that maybe I gave him some wrong guidance in the past, and that's why he has some...extraordinary feelings towards me."

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