Chapter 18: Then Call Me Ge
[Translator’s note:“Ge” means “older brother” in Chinese. It’s often used affectionately or respectfully to address an older male, not necessarily a real sibling.]
“Eh? Oh, alright. WinterSunshineForZhi, right?… As expected of an artist, hiding the boss’s name so romantically in there. Haha.”
Zhu Minglang was a little surprised. Could a Weibo fan account be handed over so easily? Didn’t it need to be cleaned up first… Min Zhi, on the other hand, immediately opened his phone, diving into the long-awaited fan account.
“Damn, this is amazing!” Zhu Minglang’s eyes were glued to the screen after just glancing at the latest Weibo post, exclaiming in admiration. “Don’t hide such amazing drawing skills, draw a few more of the boss when you have time and post them on your main account!”
Xi Leng readily agreed.
“And then the second thing.” Zhu Minglang had other matters to discuss, putting down his phone for the moment. “For the official recording tomorrow, I was thinking, you could use a more intimate form of address. Since you’ve met the boss in person, it feels a bit strange to keep calling him ‘Min-shen.’”
Min Zhi, still looking down at the Weibo posts on “WinterSunshineForZhi,” suddenly raised an eyebrow, seemingly noticing something.
He wasn’t one to keep things bottled up and directly showed his phone screen to Xi Leng.
Xi Leng then saw the first repost on his Weibo, the one he had seen for the first time.
@WinterSunshineForZhi: Gege is so handsome, I love him so much [/Horny][/Horny][/Horny] // Repost @MinZhiStudioV: [Picture][Picture]…
Xi Leng: “…………”
So the ordinary term of address “gege” could be used like this?
Xi Leng, who actually had a younger brother, was enlightened.
He fell silent, while Min Zhi seemed satisfied, his tone rising playfully: “Mm-hmm, then call me ge.”
Xi Leng controlled his expression but couldn’t help but retort: “But I…”
He stopped after just three words, what was going on? Even with his age from his past life, at 24, he would still be a year younger than Min Zhi.
“But what?”
“…Nothing.”
Min Zhi, open and aboveboard, continued browsing the Weibo account that had been voluntarily handed over, asking pointedly: “You said you’ve liked me for three years, and you only drew this one?”
He had switched to the “Pictures” section of the Weibo homepage, accurately filtering for what he wanted.
Xi Leng’s expression didn’t change, but a cold sweat broke out on his back under his clothes. As expected, one lie required a hundred lies to cover it up.
But no matter how much he fabricated, ultimately, he had only lied to Min Zhi about one thing, and he had a valid reason.
Guilt was insignificant compared to his safety and survival needs.
After a moment of thought, Xi Leng said calmly: “I… gave up on painting for a while.”
He paused, recalling his shattered dream of painting from his past life, mentally preparing himself before speaking the words he had kept bottled up for so long: “…Just the act of picking up a brush made me nauseous.”
But revealing his inner self to others was far more difficult than physical contact. Even Luo Jiayan in his past life didn’t know this.
After speaking, he became afraid, afraid of receiving a pitying look or curious questions from Min Zhi, so he immediately added a lie: “It wasn’t until I became your fan that I created those works posted on my main account. Although there aren’t many, I’ve been consistently painting.”
“You should be able to tell that I don’t like painting people, and in these past few years… I’ve only painted you.”
If he included the years from his past life, this lie, in the end, became the truth.
Since Luo Jiayan’s 22nd birthday in his past life, for over three years, he had indeed only painted portraits of Min Zhi. Even those were drawn from memory.
At this moment, the person in the painting, right in front of him, hearing his heartfelt words, was clearly stunned.
Min Zhi opened his mouth, then closed it, his tongue stud restlessly clicking against his palate and teeth.
His heart was in a mess, like tangled strings.
His fingers moved across the screen, returning to the lifelike pencil sketch, clicking save, then setting it as his phone wallpaper, all in one go.
“Boss, what are you doing?” Zhu Minglang, who just happened to lean over to ask, saw everything, becoming even more puzzled. “…What are you doing?”
Xi Leng looked over, also stunned.
Min Zhi was swiping on his phone screen, his fingers caressing the drawing, the pencil sketch of himself. Recognizing its owner’s face, the screen unlocked, and beneath the various app icons was the same drawing.
“Didn’t you tell me to be fan-serving?” Min Zhi said with a straight face.
Zhu Minglang: “…”
But who would be allowed to bring their phones into an escape room? This screensaver and wallpaper were only for him to see, weren’t they??
In any case, Zhu Minglang was still rather pleased, looking forward to the official recording the next day.
The recording started at one o’clock in the afternoon, and the guests took the resort’s sightseeing bus.
There were six guests in total. The two popular celebrities sat at the opposite ends of the last row, while the others each occupied a two-person seat in a separate row.
Qiaoqiao sat directly in front of Jiang Songnan. Turning her head, she saw Min Zhi in the corner, his hand resting on the back of Xi Leng’s seat in front of him, his left hand, with the ring tattoo on his middle finger.
For the official filming, they had to wear sponsored clothing, so Xi Leng couldn’t cover his neck with a scarf. He had applied a concealer patch just below his Adam’s apple. He got it from the program’s makeup artist, who said it was specifically used to cover tattoos during filming, to avoid negatively influencing young viewers and encouraging them to imitate.
However, “Unlimited Escape Room” was a 17+ show with horror and thriller elements, so the censorship wasn’t as strict as all-ages variety shows. The tattoo on Min Zhi’s finger was openly displayed.
Qiaoqiao, quick-witted, said to Xi Leng: “Um…”
When Xi Leng looked over, she pointed at his neck: “Small tattoos don’t need to be covered, right? The concealer patch is actually quite visible.”
Xi Leng touched the flesh-colored concealer patch. It was very thin, clinging tightly to his skin. Qiaoqiao couldn’t see it, but he could feel it, the twisted, raised scar beneath, like a worm.
But he only said briefly: “Thank you, but it’s not a tattoo.”
Min Zhi, sitting behind them, froze, his gaze shifting over. Xi Leng’s sharp Adam’s apple was visible above the concealer patch. This was the first time he had seen it.
But the skin below his Adam’s apple remained a mystery.
Fortunately, Qiaoqiao didn’t ask further. Xi Leng rested his elbow on the windowsill, his gaze drifting out the window, aimless, letting the scenery flash by.
Suddenly, in a voice too soft for anyone else to hear, he muttered: “…It’s something disgusting.”
He was lost in thought when Min Zhi’s question came from above: “What did you say?”
“Nothing.” Xi Leng was slightly startled and sat up straight.
Jiang Songnan, who had been observing them, smiled mischievously, revealing a canine tooth, his eyes and words full of teasing: “Hey, Xi Leng, who were you with last night?”
Xi Leng, the person involved, ignored him completely.
But Min Zhi couldn’t ignore the annoying voice.
The implication behind Jiang Songnan’s words wasn’t hard to understand, and the more he cared, the faster he understood. A passionate night, hidden traces of intimacy…
Min Zhi couldn’t help but let his imagination run wild, thinking, wasn’t Xi Leng with him last night? And Zhu Minglang, who could be considered non-existent.
With his favorite idol in the same building, Xi Leng couldn’t have sneaked off for a tryst with someone else in the middle of the night, could he? He was an artist, since he was a fan of his, how could his taste be so bad? Whoever this other person was, their taste must be terrible.
But Xi Leng’s secretive stair-climbing behavior was suspicious.
Thinking back, wasn’t everything strange?
The more Min Zhi thought about it, the more irritated he became, and he simply closed his eyes.
But even with his eyes closed, he couldn’t find peace.
His eyelids twitched open slightly, glancing at Xi Leng in front of him.
Xi Leng had already tilted his head against the window, his medium-long hair covering most of his face, the tip of his fair ear peeking out from the thick black strands.
His breathing was steady, he was probably sound asleep.
Was he tired from fooling around last night?
Thinking that it could always be edited out, Min Zhi shamelessly took out his phone and started playing with it.
Going straight to his little fan’s private life, “WinterSunshineForZhi.”
Just as he was about to continue scrolling from where he left off last night, he frowned. Where was the “Love you, gege” Weibo post? It was gone. He checked and double-checked, it was really gone.
He then specifically searched for the keyword “gege.”
The result was a big fat zero.
He then looked at the sleeping little fan.
Heh, he must have been tired from deleting Weibo posts last night.
