After Entering a Book, He Just Wants to be a Flower Vase

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At seven o’clock that night, Jiang Dao followed behind Zhu Yao and walked into a box at the hotel he was staying at.

By the time Li Cheng and the big bosses from the capital entered the venue, it was already after 7:30p.m. Jiang Dao wasn’t the only artist present – there were two other young actors from other companies. All three were in their early twenties, looking clever and youthful.

The investor who built the bridge for Xingyao Media was ranked third among the four capital bosses present. But because he was most familiar with Li Cheng, he spoke with confidence.

Although everyone is aware this kind of drinking event is to seek resources, no one will directly talk about business from the get-go. Instead, they’ll find some topics like good food or vacation spots to start the night.

It was not until three rounds of drinking that the topic at the table slowly veered to the three artists present.

“Xiao Gu isn’t bad.”

Li Cheng was slightly drunk, obviously not drunk, but his temperament was completely different from back in the audition room. His eyes fell on the artists with more scrutiny and judgment than appreciation.

“At first glance, he’s a good kid, young, and looks sweet… Although it’ll be a bit difficult for him to support a male lead role in the future, there’s absolutely no problem with the role of the popular male second.”

The male artist surnamed Gu who was sitting beside him immediately revealed a sweet smile at Li Cheng. “Thank you for your compliment, Director Li! I’m very lucky to be able to cooperate with you, and don’t need more.”

Li Cheng smiled, picked up his glass, and raised it towards him.

Xiao Gu immediately accepted the cup and took a big sip with a blushing face.

On the side, an investor surnamed Wang asked with a smile, “What about our Yunyun? Director Li, want to comment?”

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Li Cheng smiled and said: “Qi Jiayun… he’s not bad. It’s just that he’s less popular, but he’s also a good boy. If he can make a breakthrough in acting, he will have a bright future.”

Hearing this, Qi Jiayun Immediately raised his glass: “Thank you, Mr. Li, I’ll toast you. Cheers!”

He raised his head and downed a full glass of wine.

Seeing him drinking wine so vulgarly, Li Cheng felt a little unhappy. Taking a sip on the edge of the glass, he put down the goblet, and turned to look at Jiang Dao.

Zhu Yao kicked Jiang Dao under the table.

Jiang Dao raised his eyes and reluctantly put down the half-bitten taro roll in his chopsticks.

Li Cheng smiled: “Xiao Dao is a straightforward person, not pretentious.”

Jiang Dao gave him a perfunctory smile: “Thank you.”

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Li Cheng held up the wine glass and shook it in his hand: “In terms of looks, you are the most beautiful of the three today, with a good figure, and don’t look weak… Do you usually exercise regularly?”

Jiang Dao nodded. “Yeah.”

Li Cheng looked him up and down again, and smiled meaningfully: “I’m afraid it’ll be hard to play a leading role because of your looks. You’re too beautiful, and look a bit evil, which isn’t suitable for decent roles1as in good people or heroes. But if you play a villain, you can leave a deep impression on the audience.”

He then took the initiative to raise his glass and raised it in the direction of Jiang Dao.

Jiang Dao picked up his own wine glass. Discovering it was empty, he reached for a bottle that was placed not far away.

Zhu Yao whispered in his ear: “Drink less, be careful with this kind of wine…”

Jiang Dao turned a deaf ear, took the bottle and filled a large glass, and like Qi Jiayun, he drank it all in one go.

Li Cheng paused for a moment as he tasted the wine. He immediately put down his wine glass, without a trace of what he was thinking on his face.

After chatting for a while, the topic slowly loosened, as more wine was drunk.

Zhu Yao used the excuse that his artist had to fly out tomorrow, and helped Jiang Dao block many cups. Even so, his cheeks flushed from drinking.

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While eating, Jiang Dao observed Li Cheng’s state, and inadvertently made eye contact with the other party several times. In response, Li Cheng even blinked at him at the moment when the two of them looked at each other.

It seems that the time is ripe.

Jiang Dao put down his chopsticks and turned to Zhu Yao: “It’s a little stuffy, I’m going to the terrace to grab some air.”

It took Zhu Yao a while to digest his sentence. Frowning, he asked, “Did you drink too much?”

Jiang Dao smiled and waved his hand. “That’s not true. I ate too much.”

At this time, the investor from Xingyao Media asked Zhu Yao to drink again, so Zhu Yao had no choice but to say to Jiang Dao, “Go and come back quickly”, before turning to deal with the investor.

Jiang Dao left the private box. Walking to the end of the corridor, he stood on the large terrace, silently watching the city lights under his feet, silently calculating how long it would take Li Cheng to follow.

In just two minutes, he heard footsteps behind him, followed by Li Cheng’s fake chuckle. “Looking at the scenery?”

Jiang Dao turned around, to see a smile on Li Cheng’s face.

Li Cheng: “Too perfunctory?”

Jiang Dao leaned against the railing. His eyes moved to the side, as the corner of his mouth hooked up with a bit of mockery. “I didn’t think… I mean, I didn’t expect… to really win the role.”

Hearing him say this, a hint of surprise flashed across Li Cheng’s face.

But that emotion was fleeting. He narrowed his eyes, looked Jiang Dao up and down studiously, and said, “No wonder you were so haphazard when you auditioned.”

Jiang Dao lowered his eyelashes and whispered, “How so… the company’s arrangement, how dare I mess around…”

Li Cheng smiled, as if he knew something. He leaned closer and said in a low voice, “You’re afraid now? Why aren’t you afraid of President Liu’s2President of Xingyao Media where JD works angry for deliberately losing the audition?”

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Jiang Dao looked at Li Cheng in surprise, with a moment of panic in his eyes. Immediately afterwards, he quickly looked away, pursed his lips, grabbed the railing with both hands with white fingertips.

His flustered and nervous appearance obviously pleases Li Cheng.

Li Cheng chuckled again and said, “Don’t worry, I won’t tell your President Liu. Besides, I don’t like to force people. This kind of thing is still better when it’s mutually consensual… Lao Liu, he understands my preferences, but unfortunately, he doesn’t know that I don’t like twisted melons.”

Hearing these words, Jiang Dao immediately understood – the senior management of Xingyao Media absolutely understood Li Cheng’s nature. Letting him audition and attend this event, whether it was intentional or not, none of this mattered.

In the eyes of Xingyao Media, he’s just a commodity, not a person.

Seeing that Jiang Dao didn’t say a word, the corners of his mouth gradually twisted into a sneer. Li Cheng’s temperament became filled with madness and desire as his eyes brightened.

He licked his lips and said: “But don’t rush to refuse. I can promise that if you want, you’ll have more scenes in the show. Besides, I can give you an even better role in the next drama. How about it?”

After getting the answer he wanted, Jiang Dao was too lazy to continue acting.

Sneering, he squinted at Li Cheng with eyes sharp like a knife, slicing the wretched man dressed in literary and artistic packaging from top to bottom.

Li Cheng subconsciously swallowed, hands trembling slightly while holding the railing.

Before Jiang Dao could speak, there was a sudden sound of high heels stepping on the ground in the corridor.

Immediately afterwards, the only female investor in the banquet appeared on the terrace and looked at the two with a smile.

“Yo, why are you both hiding here?”

She stepped forward, taking a lady’s cigarette from her handbag, and threw the lighter to Jiang Dao nonchalantly: “Chu Yinlong said that you’re his friend. How rare.”

Jiang Dao knew that this beautiful investor should be the ‘Lu Zhengrong’ Chu Yinlong mentioned to him before. She probably came out because both he and Li Cheng were missing from the box.

Smiling internally, Jiang Dao’s face didn’t reveal a thing as he helped Lu Zhengrong light her cigarette and asked obediently, “How so? Teacher Chu has many friends.”

Lu Zhengrong smiled: “He has many friends, but almost all of them are older than him. There are few peers, but young people… You’re his only friend under the age of 30.”

After speaking, she paused, smiling brilliantly: “I heard that he invited you to participate in his movie, but you rejected it?”

Jiang Dao: …

Is being rejected something to be proud of?

Why does this guy Chu Yinlong tell everyone?

On the side, Li Cheng’s face changed slightly. He quickly put on his usual gentle smile: “It’s a good opportunity to cooperate with Teacher Chu, Xiao Dao. Don’t let it go.”

Jiang Dao looked at him and returned the same smile: “Thank you, Director Li.”

“I’ve been gone for too long, so I’ll go back first.”

After speaking, Li Cheng quickly turned and left. After turning the corner, he raised his hand subconsciously to wipe away the sweat beading on his forehead.

On the balcony, Lu Zhengrong looked at Jiang Dao with a strange expression on her face. “Why do I get the impression you had the upper hand just now?”

Jiang Dao couldn’t help smiling.

After a while, he said: “Anyway, thank you for helping me.”

“Don’t thank me, since Chu Yinlong entrusted you to me, it’s my pleasure to help.”

Lu Zhengrong slowly breathed through the cigarette. “Today’s matter, even if your company deliberately arranged it, I don’t think your agent knows. He was drunk under the table by Lao Wang, otherwise it wouldn’t be my turn to come out to find you.”

“En, I see.” Jiang Dao nodded in response. “Then I’ll go back first.”

“Go.” Lu Zhengrong said, “Don’t worry about Li Cheng, he still has some brains.”

When Jiang Dao left, Lu Zhengrong pulled out her phone, and typed with a smile: “Where did you find this little kid? He’s really interesting, and didn’t need my help at all.”

Chu Yinlong’s reply came back quickly: “As long as he’s okay.”

Lu Zhengrong: “He’s not only okay, I don’t know what he said, but Li Cheng was so frightened that he seems sober.”

Chu Yinlong: “Is the party over?”

Chu Yinlong: “Is he drunk?”

Lu Zhengrong stared at the phone, and snorted in disgust.

In the end, she answered: “It’s almost over. He drank a lot, but he doesn’t look drunk.”

At the end, she added: “This kid seems to have a good alcohol tolerance! When we get together at home, call him over, and see if he can go a few rounds with me.”

Chu Yinlong: “Impossible.”

Chu Yinlong: “If uncle knows that you are drinking again, or fighting with the person I bring back, he’ll tie me back.”

Lu Zhengrong: “Tch, you’re boring.”

Lu Zhengrong: “However, you found such a young child, who is nine years younger than you. Does your mother know?”

Chu Yinlong: “?”

Before waiting for Lu Zhengrong’s reply, Chu Yinlong sent a series of messages:

“You think too much. It’s not that kind of relationship, he’s just an ordinary friend.”

“He’s talented.”

“That’s all.”

Lu Zhengrong sneered and replied, “If I hadn’t caught you hiding under the covers in the middle of the night peeking at a little gay yellow book, I might still believe what you said.”

Chu Yinlong: “…”

Chu Yinlong: “That’s almost ten years ago, why mention it?”

Chu Yinlong withdrew a message.

Chu Yinlong: “I believe in Buddhism, how could I do such a thing.”

 

Movie Emperor Chu, you admitted you read little gay yellow books yourself!

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1as in good people or heroes2President of Xingyao Media where JD works