Sickly Bigshot CH 05 Meeting The Original
Translated by The BL Muse (ko-fi)
Shi Zhou deleted Qin Yancheng’s WeChat contact the moment he hit the streets.
His plan was simple: To avoid his cannon-fodder fate, he needed to steer clear of the novel’s scum male lead, Zheng Qi, and especially the psychotic white moonlight, Qin Yancheng.
—Though, based on last night’s encounter, Qin Yancheng seemed surprisingly normal. Not at all like a deranged lunatic.
Shi Zhou’s only possession was the phone he’d instinctively grabbed while fleeing.
Hotel Lobby
"A single room, please. Alipay."
"ID card, sir."
Shi Zhou and the receptionist stared at each other. After a beat, he patted his high ponytail.
"Actually... never mind."
No ID, no room.
He settled for a café, scrolling rental listings between bites of cake, hoping to find a move-in-ready apartment.
"Shi Zhou! Where the hell have you been?!" A voice sounded overhead and a hand suddenly yanked him up by the collar.
A tall, broad-shouldered man loomed over him, face twisted in rage.
Shi Zhou smacked the hand away. "Who the fuck—? Get lost!"
Zheng Qi froze. The usually meek Shi Zhou had never dared talk back.
Seeing the guy's reaction, Shi Zhou’s stomach dropped. This guy knows me. Given the original host’s pitifully small social circle, there was only one possibility—
Zheng Qi sneered. "Shi Zhou, you’ve got nerve, daring to talk back to me? Who’d you whore yourself to last night!"
Fuck my luck. Shi Zhou cursed in his heart and tested out his guess, "Zheng Qi?"
"Since when did I allow you to call me by name?"
Just my fucking day.
First the white moonlight, now the scum male lead. As the novel’s unluckiest cannon fodder, Shi Zhou might as well have "cursed" stamped on his forehead.
Zheng Qi was handsome in a rugged way—fitting for a male lead. But his current expression resembled a fishwife mid-tirade in the morning market. After Qin Yancheng’s otherworldly beauty, Zheng Qi looked like leftover takeout.
What made him truly vile? He hit his partners. The original Shi Zhou had endured plenty.
But that was because the original host's character was too mild and cowardly. If Zheng Qi dared to try to hit him, Shi Zhou would definitely fight back. It was impossible for him to be like the protagonist and the original host, who indulged his disgusting habits and thought that the matter could be turned around after a slap in the face and then a sweet date?
“You shameless slut, whose clothes are you wearing!" Zheng Qi grabbed his collar again—only to get his hand swatted away a second time.
Their argument drew stares. The cafe was relatively quiet so their argument even rose above the relaxing music. Some of the other patrons had their phones lifted, snapping photos.
Zheng Qi was the handsome CEO of Qiming Entertainment. Shi Zhou, a C-list celebrity. Their "arrangement" was an open secret.
Zheng Qi grabbed Shi Zhou's wrist, forcefully pulling him out of the cafe and pushing him into his car.
Shi Zhou gave up struggling after realizing Zheng Qi’s grip was too strong.
Instead, he asked politely, "Mr. Zheng, does your mother know you manhandle people? Or did she skip the ‘basic decency’ chapter in parenting?"
Zheng Qi didn't understand why he had a personality change. The only reason he could think of was that he had found a new backer. "What the fuck's wrong with you? Don't make me hit you. You better behave."
Zheng Qi fastened his seat belt and started the car. Although Shi Zhou felt unlucky and pissed off, he still had to continue looking for a house to rent. So it was not completely without benefits to go back with Zheng Qi. At least he could get his ID card and pack his luggage.
Zheng Qi's phone rang at this time.
"Song Duannian" flashed on the car display—the protagonist shou.
Zheng Qi hissed, "Not a sound," before answering on speaker.
"Duan Nian? What’s wrong?" His voice instantly became gentle.
"Why did you spread those photos at the university? And those rumors—" Song Duannian’s voice trembled with fury.
Zheng Qi continued in the same gentle tone. "Darling, I don’t know what you mean."
"Zheng Qi, you are too much, when you—you're the one who forced me! How could you!"
"Did the school fire you for such a little thing? Don’t worry. I’ll take care of you." Zheng Qi said without hesitation.
Shi Zhou gagged silently. This was classic scumbag gong move: leaking explicit photos to ruin Song Duannian’s reputation, stripping him of his career as a university professor and his only means of livelihood.
An associate professor at a university with a good family background and extensive knowledge had extremely erotic photos spread all over the school, and eventually lost his job due to such embarrassing circumstances.
Even so, in the final ending, he was still able to have a happy reunion with the instigator. It was really...a broad-minded heart that was awe-inspiring.
"How about you be my secretary," Zheng Qi smiled. "We can see each other every day this way."
The greasiness of that smile could fry an egg.
Shi Zhou gagged soundlessly. Thank you for disgusting him again. Just as he wanted to gag some more, his nose suddenly itched and before he could stop it he let out a sneeze.
Zheng Qi turned to Shi Zhou, and his expression immediately turned ferocious. Song Duannian asked vigilantly, "Who's next to you? Didn't you promise me—"
"What's wrong, darling? Are you jealous?"
Song Duannian was silent, so Zheng Qi hung up the phone with a big laugh.
The moment the call ended, he snarled at Shi Zhou, "Don’t play games with me. You disgust me."
Shi Zhou: ???
Can’t I even sneeze? What are you, a control freak?
As if he actually wanted to compete with Song Duannian. Someone like Zheng Qi, even if he was free Shi Zhou wouldn't even spare him a look. There are always these "greasy guys" who think they are great.
"Who were you with last night?"
"Passed out on the street."
“Why do you think I found you in the cafe? I have your location. You were in Four Seasons Spring City last night. You ran so far just to sleep in the streets of a high-end villa area?”
Shi Zhou’s mind raced. Zheng Qi could never know he had been at Qin Yancheng's house last night.
Qin Yancheng was Zheng Qi’s unattainable white moonlight, his lifelong obsession.
Even after Qin Yancheng’s death, Zheng Qi brought Song Duannian to visit his grave in the finale—so nauseatingly “sweet” it was.
When Qin Yancheng was alive, Zheng Qi had the intention to do something but not the courage to actually do it. After all, with Qin Yancheng's status and position, if he were to be discovered, the mere thought of it would be chilling.
The tomb-sweeping gesture was truly a stroke of genius, burying both Song Duannian and Qin Yancheng at the same time, and also disgusting the readers by the way.
There was no need to explain why one felt sorry for Song Duannian. Qin Yancheng had no idea that Zheng Qi had such dirty thoughts about him during his lifetime, otherwise he would have destroyed him in a second. Zheng Qi should be thankful that this wasn't a novel with supernatural or fantasy elements, otherwise Qin Yancheng would have sat up from his grave and thrashed him.
"Believe what you want," Shi Zhou shrugged.
Zheng Qi parked the car and dragged him upstairs, grip on his wrist practically bone-crushing.
Shi Zhou, pissed off at the painful treatment, yelled, "Let go! I can walk!"
"Did you enjoy your night? Shi Zhou, I’ll make sure you can’t even—"
The threat died mid-sentence.
A slender man in a brown sweater stood frozen in the hallway, gold-rimmed glasses on his nose.
Zheng Qi instantly threw away Shi Zhou's wrist and even pushed him hard. Shi Zhou staggered and almost fell.
——What a fucking clown.
It had not been easy for Shi Zhou, the young master, to hold back his temper until now, and finally he exploded completely.
He already knew who this young gentleman was, so he rushed forward, grabbed the corner of Zheng Qi's sleeve, and said in front of Song Duannian:
"Baby, forgive me! Punish me like you promised~ Make it so I can’t get out of bed~"
Zheng Qi was stunned for a moment, then his face suddenly turned as purple as pig liver, and he quickly turned to look at Song Duannian.
Song Duannian stood there in a daze, and then suddenly became extremely sad and angry. "Zheng Qi, didn't you say you were single? You two... you two are shameless..."
Shi Zhou almost pitied him, educated people were really quite different. They couldn't even curse at others. But if it were him, he would definitely use "fuck" as the center of the circle and his eighteen generations of ancestors as the radius, and curse the man to death.
He immediately used his talented acting skills to replicate the same surprised, aggrieved and sad expression, "Ah Qi, we have been together for so many years, tell me, who is he!"
.
.
.
AN: Shi Zhou: “You started it. Let’s fucking GO.”