Chapter 79:
Upon learning of the situation, Yue Wenwen was so angry that he wished he could dig three feet into the ground to find Chen An and deliver justice on the spot.
“What a bastard! You’ve been so good to him, and he repays you like this?!” Yue Wenwen’s voice involuntarily rose in volume.
Having drunk too much the night before, he had slept until noon and rushed over as soon as he heard about the situation.
Ji Ran sat with one leg draped over the edge of the sofa, playing with his phone in his hand, his posture not very elegant.
Cheng Peng had taken a shower at his place, borrowed a set of Qin Man’s clothes, and was now sitting on the sofa drying his hair.
He had originally intended to go home, but when he arrived at his doorstep, he noticed that the lights on the second floor were still on.
Chen An was still staying at his house, not having left.
So, without much thought, he came to Ji Ran’s place first.
“The clothes fit quite well,” Cheng Peng remarked. “Thanks.”
“No problem,” Qin Man replied, taking a sip of his coffee. “They’re new; you can take them with you later.”
“He’s still at your place, right?” Yue Wenwen stood up, muttering, “I’ll pay a visit to your house. I won’t let this little bastard get away with it!”
He had barely taken two steps when Cheng Peng pulled him back.
“Enough, I don’t want to make a big deal out of this,” Cheng Peng said.
Yue Wenwen frowned, “Things have already gotten to this point, and you’re still siding with him?”
“No, I just want to save face for myself,” Cheng Peng closed his eyes. “I’ve already sent my assistant to kick him out of the house. Don’t worry, I won’t be stupid like this again.”
Qin Man remained silent, handing the coffee cup in his hand to Ji Ran.
Ji Ran didn’t take it, instead taking a sip in the same manner as him.
He hadn’t slept well, stayed angry for several hours, and now that he had calmed down, drowsiness was creeping back in.
The notification sound of a WeChat call rang, and Ji Ran glanced at the screen before casually answering.
It was He Suiran: “Ji Ran, did I wake you up?”
Ji Ran lazily replied, “You did.”
“Wait, don’t hang up yet,” the voice on the other end hurriedly said. “I wanted to apologize to you about the variety show.”
Ji Ran found it amusing. “Are you the video editor? Or the director?”
He Suiran hesitated for a moment. “Neither… “
“Then why are you apologizing to me?”
“It’s my fault. If I had come to you back then, you wouldn’t have appeared on camera. I know you’re not comfortable appearing on camera…”
“Hold on,” Ji Ran interrupted him. “It’s not that I’m uncomfortable, it’s that I’m unwilling.”
He Suiran realized he misspoke. “That’s not what I meant.”
“Never mind, that’s my own business, you don’t need to worry about it,” Ji Ran said. “Hang up if you have no business.”
“Wait a moment… Will you come to next week’s competition?”
“Depends on my mood.”
With that, Ji Ran hung up the phone.
Bringing up the topic, Yue Wenwen said, “By the way, Xiao Ranran, I’ve arranged for someone to handle this. I messaged the production team with my main account, and they replied saying they would delete your scenes. However… there were definitely quite a few people who downloaded it before, so making that video disappear completely is unlikely.”
Ji Ran responded with a simple “Thanks.”
Cheng Peng had someone arrange for the apartment near the company to be cleaned up, and he moved in that afternoon. Even when moving his belongings, he didn’t show up in person, managing it all through others.
It was said that Chen An begged Cheng Peng’s assistant for a long time, but Cheng Peng didn’t spare him a word.
After hearing about this from Yue Wenwen, Ji Ran finally let out a sigh of relief.
This indicated that Cheng Peng, regardless of whether he still had feelings for Chen An or not, had made up his mind not to turn back.
It was a good thing. Although he didn’t like meddling in other people’s affairs, he also didn’t want to see his friends fall into the same pit twice.
It wasn’t worth it, and there was no need.
On the day Qin Man had his cast removed, the director specifically came to the hospital.
Qin Man sat in the director’s office, saying to the person in front of him, “It’s just removing a cast, it’s not troublesome for you, sir.”
Every time his uncle appeared, Ji Ran would avoid him.
Even now, he still sat outside the office, refusing to come in no matter what.
“I personally came to help you remove the cast, and now you’re not satisfied?” The director chuckled.
As the cast was removed, Qin Man saw that his arm, compared to the other, was noticeably smaller, and he suddenly felt relieved that he hadn’t let anyone from outside come in.
This was too ugly.
The director gently brushed away the powder from his arm and, seeing his expression, understood. “This is muscle atrophy. It will recover after some time.”
He looked up, puzzled. “You didn’t pay this much attention to these things before. What’s different now?”
Qin Man didn’t move. “Attention to what?”
The director pondered for a moment. “Appearance?”
Qin Man smiled faintly. “I’m dating now. Don’t I have to pay attention?”
These words sounded odd coming from Qin Man. The director faltered, “…..Using looks to please others is not a long-term strategy.”
Qin Man rose nonchalantly and went to the restroom to wash his arm with hand sanitizer.
Then he did a stretching exercise.
Having his arm in a sling for a month and suddenly being able to move it was indeed a bit unfamiliar.
When Jin Ran saw his forearm, he couldn’t help but chuckle.
“So ugly,” he said.
“It will be back to normal in a few days.”
Jin Ran shook his car keys and withdrew his smile. “Let’s go.”
Qin Man followed behind him. “Where are we going?”
“Home. Where else?”
“Let’s go on a date.”
Jin Ran paused in his steps, then turned around, looking surprised at the person behind him.
“I checked. The fourth installment of that European and American movie you like is showing,” Qin Man smiled. “Tickets are booked, starts in forty minutes. Wanna go?”
Twenty minutes later, the two arrived at the movie theater.
Jin Ran hadn’t been to a movie theater in many years. Back in school, he occasionally came with Yue Wenwen and others to watch movies, but since he had his private theater, he hadn’t set foot in a place like this.
The European and American blockbuster they were going to watch was very popular, and there were quite a few people in the audience. Jin Ran didn’t even know how this guy managed to get tickets.
When Qin Man returned with the tickets, he asked, “Do you want something to drink?”
Jin Ran was a bit thirsty, but when he saw the long queue, he changed his mind at the last moment, “….I’ll pass.”
There was still some time before the movie started, and there weren’t many seats available in the theater lobby, so many customers were scrambling for seats.
Just as they found a seat to rest, a boy and a girl sat down across from them. They were both wearing school uniforms and looked like students from a nearby high school.
The girl took out her phone as soon as she sat down and propped it up in front of a cup of cola, eagerly watching something on it.
Ji Ran was about to shift his gaze away when he heard his own voice coming from the phone.
“Can you do it?”
“……”
Ji Ran was stunned, subconsciously pulling his face mask up a bit higher.
Damn. She’s actually watching that crappy variety show.
“Why are you watching this again?” The boy leaned against her shoulder, tilting his body slightly.
“It’s not boring at all. This episode is simply a treasure trove,” the girl said.
The boy turned his head and stared at her, pointing at the screen suddenly, “Am I handsome or are they handsome?”
Whether it was an unconscious remark or the girl deliberately teasing him, she said, “Of course, they are handsome. What are you thinking—”
The boy’s face darkened, biting his lip, looking particularly aggrieved.
The girl chuckled a few times, then suddenly reached out and hugged his arm, “But I still like you the most.”
Ji Ran looked out the window expressionlessly.
The feelings of children are really something else.
“Are you watching yesterday’s episode of ‘Spring Outing’?” The person beside them suddenly spoke.
Ji Ran was startled and immediately turned around.
The young couple across from them also didn’t expect the person who shared their seat to strike up a conversation. The girl nodded as she looked at the person in front of her, whose face was mostly covered by a mask, “….Yes.”
“I like this show too,” Qin Man fibbed with a hint of amusement in his eyes, “I watched last week’s update as well.”
Even through the thick mask, the girl still felt the man’s handsomeness. Her face turned red as she nodded, “Last week’s episode was so good! I’ve already watched it three times!”
“What’s your favorite part?”
“Definitely the arm wrestling!” the girl exclaimed excitedly, “That guy in the private room is so handsome!”
Ji Ran remained silent and discreetly pinched Qin Man’s thigh under their seat.
Qin Man’s expression remained unchanged as he reached down and held Ji Ran’s finger. With an amiable smile on his face, he said, “Yes, I think they’re even more handsome than He Suiran.”
“I agree! But there’s a He Suiran fan in our dorm, so I don’t dare to say it.”
The girl wanted to continue, but she was abruptly interrupted by her boyfriend. He handed her the cola and said with a dark expression, “Have some.”
“I’m not drinking, it’ll make me gain weight.”
“The movie is about to start,” the boy glanced at his watch, “Let’s go queue up.”
“We still have ten minutes before the show starts, why go stand in line now…” the girl said puzzledly.
“I just feel like standing,” the boy said, and suddenly kissed the girl on the cheek.
The girl immediately blushed, “What… what are you doing? What if someone sees us? What if we get in trouble with the teacher?”
“Let them complain if they want to, I’m not afraid!”
In the end, she was dragged away by her boyfriend. Before leaving, the boy even gave them a warning look.
Initially fierce, he instantly backed down when he met eyes with Ji Ran, then he just walked away with his girlfriend without looking back, heading towards the ticket gate.
So immature.
Ji Ran gave a cold look at the person beside him. Well, he still had someone even more immature.
He mocked, “If you want to become famous, I can have someone contact a talent agency for you and make you debut in the spotlight.”
“Forget it,” Qin Man smiled, “Let’s leave some room for other male celebrities.”
Ji Ran couldn’t help but laugh, “Do you have any shame?”
As it was time to enter, there was already a long line at the ticket gate.
Today was Friday, and everyone seemed to be wearing school uniforms.
Ji Ran took a couple of steps before suddenly stopping, reaching out to grab Qin Man’s sleeve.
Qin Man turned around. “What’s wrong?”
“Damn,” Ji Ran glanced at the queue for a moment, then muttered under his breath, “Forget it, let’s go back.”
Following his gaze, Qin Man quickly understood.
Standing at the front of the line was a middle-aged woman wearing glasses. Interestingly, it was Qin Man who seemed more familiar with her than Ji Ran.
She was Qin Man’s high school homeroom teacher.
Ji Ran turned around, intending to leave, when a hand grabbed his waist.
Qin Man pulled him back. “It’s fine, we’re wearing masks, she won’t recognize us.”
“No.” The risk was too great, and he didn’t want to take chances.
“But I want to watch.”
“…This movie has many showtimes, you can book tickets for the next one.”
“This movie is hard to book.” Qin Man’s voice lowered.
“Then another day,” Ji Ran said, marching out without further discussion. The person behind him followed silently.
Halfway there, he glanced back and saw the disappointment in Qin Man’s eyes. Pausing for a moment, he cajoled, “It’s just a movie… I’ll book tickets tonight, we can come back tomorrow.”
Qin Man remained silent for a moment.
Then he smiled bitterly, “Whatever.”
His voice was faint, his eyes downcast, like a bullied little wife, speaking calmly, “I can’t stand being seen, I know.”
“You can choose whenever you want to watch, I’ll accompany you anyway.”
“It’s just that I booked these tickets last night, after timing it perfectly to grab them. So, I’m a bit reluctant.”
Ji Ran paused, then cursed inwardly.
This guy is acting again!!
“It’s okay, let’s go.” Qin Man said, taking out the two movie tickets, ready to tear them up.
He had just torn off a corner when he was stopped.
Ji Ran held his wrist, his face showing a particular conflict.
Clearly, he knew this person was doing it on purpose.
…But he just fell for it, he couldn’t bear to see Qin Man like this.
After a moment, he sighed lightly, his tone helpless, “You damn… you don’t have to act anymore. Let’s go, alright?”
Huge shoutout to @_nyanmaru_ on Discord for commissioning this! The chapter will be posted regularly, show your support for Ciacia at Kofi.
