Transmigrated into the Film Emperor’s Death-Seeking Fiance

Translator: Daed
Editor: Lynn

Last edited 8/4/21.

“Wu Yuan,” Jiang Mo Chen said solemnly, “in the future, any two-person trending search of mine—excluding ones with Yan Qing Chi—just get rid of. You know that I’m married. I do not want to create any unnecessary misunderstandings.”

“Create whose unnecessary misunderstanding? Yan Qing Chi’s? You care about him that much?”

“You don’t have to concern yourself about these things. You only need to remember that.”

“Sure, I couldn’t wish for anything more.”

Jiang Mo Chen hung up after hearing him say that. Then he called Yuan Ming Xu.

“What is it?” Yuan Ming Xu asked him.

“Was it your side who bought the trending search?”

“Yeah, my manager said that I haven’t been in the country for this period of time, so we need to create some publicity to let everyone know I’m back.”

“So, you guys had arranged everything beforehand, but you did not let me know.”

Yuan Ming Xu was somewhat surprised, “Hasn’t it always been like this? I thought I didn’t need to let you know.”

Jiang Mo Chen sneered, “Yuan Ming Xu, we are not in the same company. You are not one of Nan Cheng’s talents. I have no obligation to cooperate with your promotion. You not needing to inform me in the past was not because you didn’t need to, but because I was willing to cooperate with you. But now, I cannot be so cooperative anymore. This is the last time that we appear together on the trending searches. From today onwards, if there is a second time, my side will just take care of it in an impersonal manner.”

Yuan Ming Xu was somewhat mystified. Anxious, he asked, “Why?”

“‘Why’?” Jiang Mo Chen thought that this question of his was ridiculous, “Other people don’t know that I’m married, do you also not know? Previously, when I met you, I had just told you that I didn’t tell him about our meeting this time. Now you blatantly bind me to your name on the trending searches. Are you deathly afraid that he wouldn’t find out?”

“I’m not.” Yuan Ming Xu hastily justified himself in a low voice, “I didn’t realize.”

“You didn’t realize?” Jiang Mo Chen was so enraged that he laughed instead, “Was it that you didn’t realize? Or that you didn’t take my words to heart at all? Is it because my attitude to you has always been too gentle? So when I told you that we needed to place some distance between us, that you shouldn’t keep seeking me out, you only thought that I was just saying it? When I sat in that shop, I had told you that with my current identity, I should not and ought not be too close to you. The next second, you post a Weibo post and @ me. Your team bought the trending search and the marketing accounts’ internet-wide plug. Yuan Ming Xu, do you need me to tell you clearly, ‘In the future, keep your distance from me. Respect my marriage. Do not come find me for whatever reason, and do not bind me (to your name). We are two single and independent individuals. There is no responsibility, much less any duty, between us. So everyone should manage themselves. I won’t proactively contact you, and you shouldn’t proactively contact me.’ to be satisfied?”

Yuan Ming Xu was taken aback. He gripped his phone, the aggrievance and discomfort in his heart like churning bubbles, rising up layer by layer, “What are you saying? PR stunts1 are normal means in the entertainment circle. Moreover, the two of us had operated like this in the past. Why do you need to make me sound so tasteless?”

“That’s you, not me! I have never pulled other people for promotions or publicity stunts. You were the one who wanted to borrow my popularity, to ride on my coat-tails, so you pulled me into publicity stunts. Just because I didn’t say anything about it in the past does not mean that this is normal, that I owe you. It was just that at that time, I wanted to help you. But you should not be so insensible: buying this kind of trending search topic despite knowing that I had come to meet you behind his back! How do you want him to look at it? When you did this, did you not consider what would happen after I saw it, after he saw it?”

“I said I didn’t think of it, I didn’t realize. Can’t you just explain to him? Didn’t you say that he’s a very good person? Then he ought to be able to understand. Everyone is in this circle. He should understand, shouldn’t he?”

Jiang Mo Chen practically did not expect him to say something like this. He laughed contemptuously, saying in fury, “Do you not feel disgusted saying those words? What do you mean ‘he should understand’? Is the subtext that ‘if he isn’t understanding, then he is insensible—he isn’t good enough of a person’? Yuan Ming Xu, how could you utter these kinds of words? When you say these words, do you not find yourself repulsive? In this matter, I have wronged him by meeting you behind his back; you have wronged me in making the two of us appear out of nowhere in the trending searches without my permission. From the beginning to the end, what did he do wrong, for you to insinuate that about him? Since when have you become this kind of person?”

“Since when have you become this kind of person?!” Yuan Ming Xu screamed in tears, “Listen to the words coming out of your mouth. How can you speak of me like this? How can you speak of me like this for someone you just met?! We’ve known each other for such a long time, and now you’re actually speaking of me like this because of him! ‘Repulsive’? Jiang Mo Chen, are you not afraid that when you utter those words, I will feel hurt?!”

“You didn’t take me into consideration when you did things, so why should I (take you into consideration)?” Jiang Mo Chen sighed, “In the past, I had always thought that between you and I, since we have ultimately been defined as ‘friends’, then as long as the two of us did not come in much contact with each other, we could be normal friends. After all, the upbringing that I have received since young has told me that I shouldn’t go overboard. I have to learn how to resolve matters in a gentlemanly manner, to leave others a chance so that I can meet them amicably in the future. This is especially the case as we’re all in the same circle. But now, I think that sometimes “resolving matters in a gentlemanly manner” depends on the person and the situation in question. So, today, let’s make things clear. I am very satisfied with my current married status. I do not want your appearance to create any misunderstandings between me and Yan Qing Chi. Regardless of how we used to interact with each other, from today onwards, you cannot proactively seek me out, no matter if it’s for daily life or work, through phone calls or WeChat. Do you understand?”

“What do you mean, Jiang Mo Chen? Are you planning to completely break off relations with me? Do you really have to go this far? I merely listened to my manager’s suggestion and agreed to borrow your popularity to hype up my return. Do you seriously have to make such a big deal out of nothing? At the core of the matter, why would I suddenly come back? Isn’t it because of you?!”

“I didn’t tell you to come back. You suddenly came back yourself. It has nothing to do with me.”

“Ha,” Yuan Ming Xu scoffed2, “what a good ‘it has nothing to do with me’! Yes, I was the one who rushed back of my own volition. It has nothing to do with you. I was the one who sought this humiliation myself3, are you happy now?!”

He hung up the call, furious.

Jiang Mo Chen looked at his phone. He thought for a moment and called him again. Yuan Ming Xu didn’t pick up. Jiang Mo Chen called him five times in a row till he finally picked up the phone, “What are you still calling me for? I’m already such a repulsive person? What else do you have to say to me?”

“I simply wanted to remind you: do not tell anyone else that I am married, including your manager.”

Yuan Ming Xu was dumbfounded. He had thought that Jiang Mo Chen had called him intending to apologize to him, hoping that he (YMX) wouldn’t be angry; moreover, he had thought that the other man would coax him. However, Jiang Mo Chen unexpectedly only uttered this sentence. He was stunned.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Jiang Mo Chen had already hung up.

Yuan Ming Xu sat on the bed, not understanding how things had come to this. His eye sockets sort of hurt4. The aggrievance in his heart expanded in leaps and bounds. “Plop”, a tear fell on the back of his hand. Finally, he slowly began to cry.

Jiang Mo Chen held his phone, only feeling vexed and testy as well as somewhat enraged5. He activated and unlocked his lockscreen, straight-up deleting Yuan Ming Xu’s contact phone number and WeChat from his phone. Then he turned around and made his way back. When he had just returned to the set, he unconsciously looked over in Yan Qing Chi’s direction. Yan Qing Chi was looking down at the script, his side-profile tranquil and serious. It was inscrutable.

“Is he angry?” Jiang Mo Chen wondered, “Because he saw that I went to meet Yuan Ming Xu, so he’s angry?”

Jiang Mo Chen felt remorseful. At the same time, for no reason, he felt somewhat miserable. He only felt that he truly should not have made this move.

He shouldn’t have kept it from Yan Qing Chi.

Of course Yan Qing Chi wasn’t angry. It was fine if he was angry about this kind of thing for a while. But it wasn’t worth it to keep being angry about it afterwards. Besides, Su Nuan came to find him to run through her scenes again.

Because of Jiang Mo Chen, Ji Si Xing didn’t dare cause any trouble for Yan Qing Chi. Thus, he vented his anger on Su Nuan. Su Nuan didn’t have much of a say in correspondence to her low position (in the cast and crew). What else could she do? She could only strive to make her own performance outstanding so as to decrease the number of times she was scolded.

She ran through the dialogue once with Yan Qing Chi, took a voice recording of it, and picked out her shortcomings. Then they went through the dialogue once more.

“Thank you. If it hadn’t been for you, I would be doomed.”

“It’s fine. I’m also a newcomer. We are learning from each other.”

Su Nuan smiled, her eyes and eyebrows curving. She looked very attractive.

“In a couple more days, we’ll be switching to the indoor scenes. At that time, my scenes would be filmed together. And I’ll be close to wrapping up my role.”

Yan Qing Chi thought for a moment, “It should be the same for me as well.”

“Do you have any movies or dramas after this?”

“I don’t know. I’ll have to ask my manager.”

“Mn, go ask. I’ll help ask for you too. If there’s any that are suitable for you, I’ll recommend you.”

“Okay. If I have any that are suitable for you, I’ll also recommend you.”

“Oh, no need to do that for me,” Su Nuan’s tone was cheerful and lighthearted, “My manager told me yesterday that my next gig has been settled. It’s the second female lead role in a xianxia6 drama.”

“That’s great.”

Su Nuan nodded, “I’m also quite happy with it.”

The two chatted for a while and then Su Nuan went to film her scene. Yan Qing Chi listened to Director Wang explain the scene to Su Nuan and Ji Si Xing, taking notes. He had learned this method from Su Nuan. Notwithstanding how he reckoned that he had already memorized many things in his brain, he recorded them down again with the pencil so that in the future, he could easily review what he had learned.

When it was almost 9:30 PM, Yan Qing Chi returned to the hotel with He Fei.

He took a shower, planning to go to sleep.

Right before he went to sleep, Yan Qing Chi sent Qiqi an invitation to video call.

Auntie Zhang was the one who picked up the video call invitation. Qiqi had already gone to sleep. The teacher at his school requested for the children to be in bed and sleeping before 9:30 PM. Qiqi was very punctual. Once it was 9-something PM, he would climb up his little bed and close his eyes.

Auntie Zhang told him about Qiqi’s recent status. She told him that these two days, she had taken Qiqi to Jiang Mo Chen’s parents’ house and Yan Qing Chi’s parents’ house. However, Qiqi was somewhat afraid of strangers. He preferred to stay at his own house, even if Auntie Zhang and he were the only two people there.

Yan Qing Chi’s heart ached for him. Moreover, he considered adopting another child to keep Qiqi company. Otherwise, he and Jiang Mo Chen had to work; they weren’t able to always stay at home.

He pondered about it and told Auntie Zhang, “Ask Qiqi if he has any good friends. If he does, he can invite them to our house to play. This way, they can keep him company.”

Auntie Zhang agreed to do so. Yan Qing Chi thanked her and then hung up the video call.

Jiang Mo Chen sat on the sofa, contemplating for an extremely long time. He repeatedly composed and deleted his words. In the end, he sent a concise question:【Are you not coming over tonight?】

Yan Qing Chi had just hung up the video call when he received this WeChat message. Because he had thought of Qiqi, his heart was sort of soft. Since he saw the message, he replied Jiang Mo Chen:【No, I’m going to sleep.】

【This early?】Jiang Mo Chen checked the time. It was only ten-something (PM).

Yan Qing Chi replied with a single【Mn.】

Jiang Mo Chen surmised that he was probably still angry about what happened in the afternoon. Hence, he asked:【Are you angry?】

Yan Qing Chi replied:【No.】

【Then why aren’t you coming over?】

【If you want to sleep with me, you can come here yourself.】Yan Qing Chi texted.

Jiang Mo Chen replied:【You’re overthinking.】

Yan Qing Chi replied with a: 【Oh.】

And that was it.7

Jiang Mo Chen felt somewhat helpless. He could only continue to text: 【If you’re not angry, why aren’t you willing to come over?】

Yan Qing Chi felt that the other man had nothing better to do: 【Mr. Jiang, I’m genuinely tired. So can we save this kind of “you’re heartless, shameless, and being unreasonable” “no, you’re the heartless, shameless, and unreasonable one” act for tomorrow?】

Jiang Mo Chen: 【…I do not want to act out these scenes with you, okay? Mrs. Jiang, I merely have some words that I want to say to you.】

Yan Qing Chi: 【It’s too late. You can say it tomorrow.】

Jiang Mo Chen: 【…..】

Yan Qing Chi looked at this series of ellipses, sent him a “goodnight” sticker, and placed his phone at the head of the bed, preparing to sleep.

Yet, not long afterwards, his phone rang. Yan Qing Chi picked it up and checked it. Shockingly, it was Jiang Mo Chen who was calling him. Feeling somewhat helpless, he picked up. Before he could open his mouth though, he heard Jiang Mo Chen say, “Open up.”

Chapters 6/14.

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Footnotes

营销炒作元明煦自嘲的笑了一声 – YMX gave a self-deprecating laugh是我犯贱他的眼眶有些酸涩只觉得心里既烦又躁，又带着些怒火Xianxia (仙侠)- ‘literally means Immortal Heroes’. Fictional stories featuring magic, demons, ghosts, immortals, and a great deal of Chinese folklore/mythology. Protagonists (usually) attempt to cultivate to Immortality, seeking eternal life and the pinnacle of strength. Heavily inspired by Daoism.” (Novel Category definition pulled from Immortal Mountain.) 然后就没然后了。(And then there was no “and then”.) – There was nothing else. There was no continuation.