Chapter 28
Zong Mo was glad he was wearing a dress, and also glad that he could go straight back to his room after filming in the hotel.
It was very awkward. What was even more awkward was that Director Yang was already used to it and ran off with the entire crew at lightning speed.
When only the two of them were left, Ruan Chi, probably sensing Zong Mo’s point of excitement, smiled and said, “Finish unbuttoning it.”
Zong Mo, for the first time, seemed so impatient. “Wait, let me take this off first…”
And remove my makeup while I’m at it.
“What are you taking off?”
“Are we really going to do it like this…?”
Zong Mo looked down at his long dress. He could barely even move his legs. He could only ungracefully lift it up and pile it around his waist.
“Mm.”
Adhering to the belief that it wasn’t his own eyes being offended, Zong Mo gritted his teeth and went for it. This time, he was the one pinning Ruan Chi down.
His hands trembled as he unbuttoned the shirt. It was too slow.
It was just as slow whether he looked or not. He simply shifted his gaze to Ruan Chi’s face and placed a light kiss on the side of his lips.
Zong Mo: …
Maybe I should remove my makeup?
Looking at the lipstick marks on Ruan Chi’s face, and the long hair falling beside his face, he felt as if he had been cheated on.
The second episode of Conquering the Entertainment Industry aired on time. This episode featured the scenes of Su Mo falling on flat ground and having coffee spilled on him. Ruan Chi and Zong Mo watched the web drama together on a big screen in the hotel suite.
The bullet comments were just as Zong Mo had expected, questioning why they had a male actor cross-dress as the female lead.
【The male lead is so handsome and the plot is so satisfying! But why on earth is the female lead played by a man? I’m taken out of the drama every minute…】
【His face is quite deceptive but Zong Mo is really too tall, and his acting is really too stiff, hey!】
And on the other end of the polarized comments,
【Wife is so beautiful wuwuwu】
【Wife hiss ha hiss ha hiss ha!!】
【I’m sorry, wife, I shouldn’t have cursed you before. I declare from now on you are my one and only wife.】
Zong Mo: …
Of course, there were also sharp-eyed viewers who noticed that in the cast list, the character name corresponding to Zong Mo was: Su Mo
[T.N: Su Mo (苏墨) and Su Mo (苏茉): The male name uses the character 墨 (mò), which means “ink.” The female name uses the character 茉 (mò), as in jasmine (茉莉花). They are homophones. This is a clever play on names that hints at the character’s dual identity.]
Something seemed a bit off.
But this wasn’t very important. It didn’t stop him from becoming the internet’s newest wife.
The drama had a total of eight episodes. The third episode was the hotel scene, where Su Mo’s gender is revealed, and with Shen Shi’s help, he slowly comes to terms with himself and becomes his good brother.
Mm, brother.
The night before the third episode aired, Zong Mo was forced by Ruan Chi to start a live stream.
Not knowing how much of a hassle this live stream would be, Zong Mo said, “I’ll go take a shower first then.”
Ruan Chi: “Mm.”
Today, they were live streaming directly on Meimei TV, the only live stream on the entire platform, shining brightly at the top of the homepage.
Zong Mo had posted a preview of the live stream on Weibo in advance. Ruan Chi looked at the time. There were still thirty minutes left. He clicked in to take a look first.
The live stream started ahead of schedule without any warning, and a large batch of fans still flooded in.
【Ahhh it’s CEO Shen!!!】
【Husband, husband, husband!】
【Husband is so handsome wuwuwu】
Ruan Chi had originally intended to turn off the camera or switch out, but he paused because of the exaggerated bullet comments and realized that he did look a bit handsome on the screen.
In the time it took him to take a second look, the screen was already full of bullet comments.
Tsk, and someone was always trying to run away when he video-called him.
Ruan Chi smugly watched the constantly refreshing screen full of rainbow farts, saying nothing, just a faint smile on his lips.
[T.N: Rainbow farts: A very popular Chinese internet slang term for over-the-top, exaggerated compliments, especially towards an idol or celebrity.]
【Where’s Mo Mo, CEO Shen?】
Ruan Chi finally spoke, “He’s taking a shower. He’ll be here in a bit.”
【Currently scrubbing my wife’s back, do not disturb.】
【Ahhh wife!!!】
【You’re really not treating us as outsiders. First time in my life seeing a live stream of a shower.】
【Where’s the live stream of the shower, where???】
【I think I hear the sound of water!! [Lewd]】
Zong Mo had no idea that Ruan Chi had started the live stream while he was still in the shower.
After finishing his shower, he walked over with a bath towel wrapped around his waist and asked naturally, “CEO Ruan, where’s the bathrobe?”
【????】
【What did I just hear?】
【I heard it!! Such a delicate ‘CEO Ruan’!!! Hiss ha hiss ha, RuanZong is real!】
In a moment of inattention from Ruan Chi, Zong Mo had walked into the camera’s frame.
Zong Mo noticed the colorful text dancing on the screen and curiously went over to take a look.
And then he saw his bare-chested self on the screen.
Zong Mo: …
Just as he was about to move away, Ruan Chi gave him a sharp push, shoving both of them out of the camera’s view.
Zong Mo: ?
【?????】
The bullet comments were instantly flooded with question marks.
【Just got here, what’s going on? How did the streamer disappear?】
【Wait, was Mo Mo just wearing a bath towel? Did anyone get a screenshot?】
【???】
Ruan Chi pulled off the bath towel, found a bathrobe in the closet for Zong Mo to wear, and even tied the belt for him.
Zong Mo was puzzled. “Why did you start the live stream early?”
The mysterious and low-key behind-the-scenes big shot from the novel, why was he snatching his job of live stream promotion?
Ruan Chi: “Just taking a look.”
As he spoke, he gave the belt in his hand a hard tug.
Zong Mo let out a grunt.
Although he didn’t know why Ruan Chi was helping him put on a bathrobe, and why he was so close to him, holding his bathrobe belt, and right below that was the capital of his golden canary existence.
Ruan Chi’s gaze shifted downwards. After a long silence, he said, “The live stream is still on.”
Zong Mo: …
Ruan Chi: “You should go take another cool shower.”
Ruan Chi sat back down in front of the screen. The sound of rushing water started again.
The bullet comments, which hadn’t recovered, were once again a screen full of question marks.
Ruan Chi explained, “Zong Mo wasn’t done showering just now. He’s washing up again. He’ll be here in a bit.”
【Why did he come out halfway through a shower??】
【Did some kind of live stream accident happen that forced him to wash again? [Wicked smile]】
Ruan Chi smiled but didn’t say anything. He just sat and waited for Zong Mo, occasionally answering a few questions.
【How much longer will Mo Mo be washing? I want to see him tut】
Ruan Chi: “More than half an hour.”
About the minimum time for their usual exercise.
【What time does the live stream end today? It started so suddenly, I’m late wuwuwu】
Ruan Chi: “Nine o’clock.”
Perfect for sleeping right after exercising.
【It’s already eight o’clock! Why is it ending so early wuwu, other streamers are just starting at nine!!!】
【Secretly watching the live stream at work, I don’t get off until nine ahhh】
Ruan Chi said, “I have other things to do tonight. There’s another live stream next week.”
After saying that, he ignored the fans’ soft and hard pleas and only answered questions related to the drama. When the time was almost up, he pulled over Zong Mo, who had finished his cool shower and was dressed.
The forced-to-work Zong Mo could only dry his hair while accompanying the live stream.
In an instant, the screen was full of “wife” and “hiss ha.”
Ruan Chi looked at the screen, then at the real person beside him, and snatched the towel. “Stop drying it.”
Zong Mo: ?
“What if you catch a cold?”
Ruan Chi tousled his head. Not much water. So he said, “The room is heated. It’ll be dry in a bit.”
For convenience, Zong Mo fluffed his wet hair back, messy and disheveled, somewhat resembling the wet, slicked-back hairstyle he had specially done for the DAVID magazine shoot.
Ruan Chi raised an eyebrow. Why was the screen still full of “wife”?
He said in a deep voice, “You’re not allowed to call him wife.”
Zong Mo marveled at CEO Ruan’s commanding tone and waited with great interest to see him personally experience the culture of the internet.
This generation of netizens was rebelliously living up to expectations.
As expected, many people changed their tune and started to frantically spam “CEO Shen’s wife.” 【Chi Chi’s wife】 and 【Ruan Ruan’s wife then surpassed the others.
[Ruan Ruan’s wife (软软老婆 ): A pun on Ruan Chi’s name. 阮 (Ruǎn) sounds the same as 软 (ruǎn), which means “soft.” The fans are playfully calling him “Softie Wife.”]
Ruan Chi: …
Zong Mo also saw it and secretly held back his laughter.
He saw another bullet comment:
【So, Mo Mo, were you wearing pants under your bath towel?】
Didn’t they say the internet has no memory?
They still remember something from half an hour ago?
And why are they trying to see through the appearance to the essence?
Very unclean!
Zong Mo said with a straight face, “…I was.”
This time, it was Ruan Chi’s turn to be amused.
【Mo Mo, didn’t you also call him CEO Ruan?】
Hundreds of thousands of netizens were not deaf. Zong Mo couldn’t deny it, and there was nothing to be ashamed of. He said frankly, “Mm, you can also call him CEO Ruan. And it should be like this: Ruan~~ Zong.”
No matter how you heard it, it sounded like “Soft Zong.”
【RuanZong is real!】
【LMAO, I clearly see MoChi.】
Zong Mo didn’t specify which bullet comment he was replying to, just said, “Yes~”
The “MoChi” bullet comment appeared again. Ruan Chi said disdainfully, “What MoChi? Might as well be a dyeing vat.”
Unclean. Dyeing vat was more appropriate.
Zong Mo, a first-time celebrity, didn’t realize at first that this was the main person himself, coming down to name their CP.
The CP fans were ecstatic. Firecrackers went off with a crackle, louder than the sound of Ruan Chi’s business abacus.
Most of Zong Mo’s “husband fans” were skin-deep body fans. They could even accept that kind of magazine, so what was shipping a CP?
【Mo Mo, can I be your fifth husband after the number one and two on the leaderboard, Teacher Lu, and CEO Ruan?】
【Don’t leech off Lu Bo, okay?】
Zong Mo: …
Ruan Chi had just debuted and didn’t have many loyal fans. He was shipped with Lu Bo right from the start, and the fans were very accepting. But there were always solo fans who refused to accept it.
【Reject forced pairings ahhh】
【Dyeing Vat is a no-no!!!】
【No Dyeing Vat wuwuwu, it’s too unclean [Crying loudly]】
“There are even more unclean things,” Ruan Chi smiled. His tone was slow, with an upward lilt.
Zong Mo: ?
Bullet comments: ?
The bullet comments asked with ulterior motives: 【May I ask if the more unclean things can be seen in the live stream?】
Ruan Chi still smiled lightly, advertising nonchalantly in an ambiguous tone:
“In the third episode of Conquering the Entertainment Industry tomorrow night.”
Zong Mo: …
It was a real pity his CEO Ruan didn’t become a marketing account.
Led by Ruan Chi’s hint, the bullet comments concerning the drama became more numerous.
【Mo Mo, are you really playing the female lead?】
【If you’ve been kidnapped, blink your eyes qaq】
Zong Mo was almost moved to tears. So he really did have such considerate fans.
He couldn’t give spoilers. He was just thinking about what to say.
A bullet comment with a familiar tone popped up again: 【Can you continue to kidnap him next time, BaN? Thank you, director qaq】
Zong Mo: …
Director Yang: ?
The third episode of Conquering the Entertainment Industry aired. Two minutes of advertisements were suddenly added before the opening credits, and the main episode ended with the hotel scene.
The Ruan Chi on the screen, seen from a distance and from the side, was far from being as lewd as the one Zong Mo had looked up at from below.
Zong Mo couldn’t have forgotten the situation during filming last week. That tie was still on Ruan Chi’s neck when Director Yang yelled “cut,” but in the end, a shot was added out of thin air:
A long, slender finger flicked in the air, and the tie fell lightly to the ground. The lights also dimmed accordingly.
It ended abruptly, leaving one wanting more.
Zong Mo: ?
Something was wrong.
How did it feel like he had been topped?
He quickly asked, “How is it over?”
“What else did you think would happen?” Ruan Chi retorted.
Zong Mo: …
“What about the scene where you touch my chest and find out Su Mo is a man? Is that going to be in the fourth episode?”
Ruan Chi: “Mm, I changed it a bit.”
Zong Mo quickly opened Weibo to check the audience’s feedback. Today’s scene had successfully tied him and Ruan Chi together for life. Lu Bo was no longer a part of it.
The Dyeing Vat CP Super Topic… was really renamed to Dyeing Vat. Zong Mo was silent for a moment. The fighting power of the CP fans was too strong. Together with the shocked passersby, they sent them to the trending list.
As Zong Mo had found out before, the film and television works in the book’s world were mainly dramas. There weren’t many pure romance dramas, and BL dramas were even rarer.
Although the censorship standards were loose, in other people’s dramas, they had taken off most of their clothes, but how were they not as lewd as his CEO Ruan unbuttoning a few buttons?
Trending Topic: #RuanChiZongMoBedScene
Zong Mo: …
As if abandoned by the whole world, he knew very well this wasn’t a bed scene, but no one would believe him.
Zong Mo put down his phone. Ruan Chi gave another order, “Post a live stream preview now, for the day before the fourth episode airs.”
Strike while the iron is hot.
He didn’t explain whether it was a bed scene or not. Anyway, since it was trending, it wouldn’t be for nothing. It would earn some traffic for the live stream in advance.
After posting the preview, Zong Mo asked, “CEO Ruan, are we live streaming together?”
Ruan Chi: “Mm.”
Zong Mo really wanted to ask, Aren’t you a profound and mysterious overbearing CEO? Why have you suddenly fallen in love with a life of public appearances? Could it be that the forced kiss under the hallway surveillance camera opened the door to a new world?
Of course, he didn’t dare to ask.
“Are we going to live stream before every episode airs from now on?”
Ruan Chi: “Mm, you don’t want to?”
“No, no,” Zong Mo said quickly. “CEO Ruan, can we change the location for the live stream?”
“Why?”
“It feels a bit strange to always be in a hotel…”
And there would definitely be sharp-eyed viewers who could discover that the bed scene in the drama and the live stream outside the drama were in the same hotel.
What was this called? A drama walking into reality, a fake drama becoming real.
He felt he would never be able to clear his name in his next life.
Ruan Chi readily agreed and got a top-floor large flat in a high-end residential complex less than half an hour’s drive from the set.
Because this apartment was acquired so quickly, and was fully furnished, Zong Mo couldn’t help but ask a rather silly question, “CEO Ruan, did you rent this apartment?”
“No,” Ruan Chi said. “It’s always been here. Someone comes to clean it regularly.”
Mm, meaning he bought it before, but didn’t live in it or rent it out. Just left it there, willful.
It was probably over three hundred square meters, with an elevator that opened directly into the apartment. The entrance hall was like a mini version of a hotel lobby, the walls were covered with marble, and the console table was bigger than the dining table in Zong Mo’s old home, with a ceramic vase on it that looked like it would be very expensive to break.
Seeing a beautiful vase as soon as you entered the house put you in a good mood and also gave a sense of ritual of returning home.
But after entering the villa’s main door, the entrance hall and living room were empty, not as homey as this uninhabited apartment.
Zong Mo had thought Ruan Chi preferred a minimalist decoration, but the current apartment was exquisitely decorated, with various ornaments like vases.
He thought again. It wasn’t that the villa didn’t have such things. A beautiful vase, wasn’t he one?
Zong Mo: …
He curiously walked around and felt that this kind of flat-level residence was better than a large villa in every way.
The security guards didn’t let taxis into the courtyard. Every time he took a taxi, he had to walk for ten minutes in the huge courtyard. Ordering takeout also had to be delivered by the security guards.
He had to climb to the second floor to get to his room. They lived in the same house, but often needed to call each other.
Of course, the main reason was that CEO Ruan didn’t want to waste unnecessary time.
So Zong Mo asked, “Why don’t you live here? It feels very convenient.”
Ruan Chi’s answer was simple, “Tuantuan used to love playing in the courtyard.”
Tuantuan?
Oh, it must be that dog.
But he doesn’t have a dog now?
Zong Mo: …
Forget it. He didn’t really want to understand.
Before the fourth episode of Conquering the Entertainment Industry aired, Zong Mo and Ruan Chi live-streamed together to promote it. Because of Zong Mo’s female attire and the position in the bed scene, there were few left who even called him Mo Mo. It was all “wife,” or “CEO Shen’s Mo Mo wife.”
Zong Mo: …
At least it wasn’t CEO Ruan’s Mo Mo wife.
There was no one left in this world who believed he was a Big Fierce 1.
Ruan Chi had turned off the gifting feature in his previous live streams. This time, he hadn’t had time to turn it off, and the screen was flashing non-stop with flowers and rainbows.
They were all very cheap gifts, so it didn’t really matter.
Until a cool luxury car flashed across the screen. Even though it was the first time Zong Mo had seen such a cool special effect, he could guess that the gift was not cheap.
His heart skipped a beat. Besides Lu Bo, who else could it be?
He was about to turn off the gifting, but Ruan Chi said, “Thank the fan first.”
Zong Mo looked at the name and was stunned.
It really was a fan. As expected of a CP fan of his and CEO Ruan, and a very rich one at that!
He was only happy for a second, and said reluctantly, “Thank you, CEO Ruan’s Mo Mo wife, for the Lamborghini…”
“That’s enough, don’t send any more!!”
Zong Mo had a headache. CEO Ruan still wouldn’t let him turn off the gifting. He was already inhumanly rich and still wanted to scam fans’ money. He was truly a wicked capitalist. Despicable.
Zong Mo stared at the screen and had a flash of inspiration:
“Thank you, Ruan Ruan wife, for the flowers~~”
Ruan Chi frowned and shot him a cold look. “Are you just making things up, Zong Mo?”
With Zong Mo’s callout, the audience immediately started to frantically send flowers, which could be sent after a certain amount of viewing time and cost no money.
The bullet comments flooded the screen, and the mysterious Ruan Ruan wife was long drowned in the sea of bullet comments.
Zong Mo said with a clear conscience, “I just saw it. It’s gone now.”
Ruan Chi: ?
