Chapter 20: Compared with Yan Qiuchi

After a busy day, the final reading session was over. Shen Jintai was exhausted both physically and mentally, that fell asleep while sitting in the car.

The sky has dimmed as Summer was ending and the twilight revealed the first signs of Fall. On the western sky were dark purple clouds, and a bit of golden leaves were about to fade. Shen Jintai leaned back in his chair letting the wind blow in from the car window. The hair on his forehead brushed against his eyes making him feel slightly itchy, yet he still felt serene.

“If you live in the Yan’s Mansion, do you run into Yan Qiuchi?” Li Meilan asked.

“Occasionally.” Shen Jintai said weakly.

Li Meilan: “Not excited?”

“Excited…” Shen Jintai said: “If your heart doesn’t move, then you won’t die*.”

*Your heart doesn’t move, then you won’t die = it means to stop thinking about it.

Xiao Tang laughed.

Li Meilan also smiled and said, “Honestly, your family’s economic situation is so bad now, and my family’s situation isn’t that great either. I have two children. We both need to make money so that I can buy milk powder. Let’s work hard. Don’t think about Yan Qiuchi. If he could like you, he would’ve liked you a long time ago.”

Shen Jintai felt a twinge of sadness hearing those words. Perhaps he was just too tired and the weariness softened his heart. He gave an “Un” and said: “Don’t worry anymore. The Shen Jintai, who was chasing after his ass is already dead.”

Li Meilan glanced back at him with a slightly surprised and pained expression: “You’re only twenty years old. Still very young. There’ll be tons of good men that’ll be vying for you in the future. At such a good age now, no need to struggle only to meet disappointment.”

Yes. Twenty is really the best age in life. God wanted him to be the best of all men. The most brightest star.

Li Meilan felt that Shen Jintai was very strange today. However, looking closely, Shen Jintai was still Shen Jintai. People say that experiencing emotional pain allows people to mature quickly. This seems to be the case. Shen Jintai became more serious. He fell into bankruptcy and experienced heartache, falling from heaven into the depths of hell.

“What do you think is the difference between me and Yan Qiuchi?” Shen Jintai suddenly asked.

Li Meilan: “Why are you comparing yourself with him?”

“Only when you find a gap can you make progress.” Shen Jintai leaned over: “I know that he is an excellent person. It’ll be more exciting and motivating if I made him my goal*! From a woman’s point of view, where am I worse than him?”

*Clarity: Goal is referring to becoming more like Yan Qiuchi, not to achieve in getting him.

“Do you really want to compare?” Li Meilan said half-jokingly and half-embossed: “There’s a big difference between the two of you.”

Shen Jintai: “Don’t be afraid of hurting my feelings. Just say it.”

Li Meilan unscrewed a bottle of mineral water, took two sips, and said: “The relationship between you and Yan Qiuchi is rocky. As your agent, I should be on your side. But, in all honesty, a man like Yan Qiuchi is first-rate. I can understand why you like him.”

She glanced back at Shen Jintai, and Shen Jintai encouraged her: “Go on.”

Li Meilan: “Just look at his family background. It’s one of the country’s wealthiest family. There isn’t anyone who doesn’t know who his father, Yan Tiefeng, is. His mother, Fang Fengmei, family’s background is something that ordinary people like us can’t even talk about. Not only that, Yan Qiuchi graduated from the top school in the country. In just a few years, he was able to establish Sunshine Media and made it into a powerhouse of the entertainment industry. I heard that if <The East Palace is Coming>’s earnings are good, Sunshine Media will go public*. And then there’s his looks. Don’t you just love his face? He’s tall, strong, and handsome. Truly worthy of a top-notch master in both hardware and software.”

*IPO = initial public offering. You can read more about it at the link if you’re interested in the business world.

Li Meilan then compared it to him: “What about you? Before you had money, but it was incomparable to that of the Yan’s. Now you have even less so it’s even more moot. From this point you’ve already lost. In terms of looks, you’re just not as handsome as him. Eyes, nose, face, they’re all perfect. Also…”

“There’s more?!” Shen Jintai asked in frustration.

“Your height’s good. I think he’s a bit too tall. You’re 1.8 meters right? If you get any taller, it won’t look too good on screen. Hmm… and…” Li Meilan look seriously at his face. Suddenly she said: “Did you put on lipstick?”

Shen Jintai froze for a moment then wiped his lower lips: “No.”

Li Meilan looked closer: “Your lip color looks much better now. I remember your lip color was a bit darker.”

“Maybe my body has been well adjusted recently.” Shen Jintai muttered: “It looks much better, right?”

Li Meilan nodded: “It looks healthier. I thought you put on lipstick.”

Li Meilan finally praised him and finished: “Speaking of which, your skin is quite pale. Men are different from women. The world is stricter on women. If men look just a little handsome, they will be eaten. Do you know Ni Shuai who was in the danmei drama last year? He looks ugly to me, but little girls love him to death. If a female star looked like that, she would be scolded to death! Male stars that are ugly can still get away with being called handsome.”

“The male star’s su* attracts fans more than good looks. “Shen Jintai said.

*Su/su sense (苏感) = specifically refers to the actor’s natural charm in the interpretation of the role, which makes the audience feel “heartbeat”. There is no set standard as it’s completely arbitrary (based off people’s own personal opinion).
*Clarity:  they’re saying that what attracts fans more is not physical beauty but rather how they can capture fans through the roles they play. An example would be like how people who goes see Pirates of the Caribbean and falls in love with the character Captain Jack Sparrow played by Johnny Depp. Because they like the character so much, by extension they come to like Johnny Depp, who was able to portray such a likable character (this is regardless of how he looks).

Le Meilan: “Yes, I think this is the direction you should go on in the future. While you are good-looking, it’s not comparable to most stars in the industry. It’s better to go on the su path.”

Maybe one day he can have both su and beauty. Shen Jintai smiled. If people have fire in their hearts, they’re not afraid of being fatigue.

Shen Jintai planned to get fit during the night. He didn’t practice any upper body exercises but rather trained his ass. His ass was much paler and softer, looking very tempting, than before that he was unaccustomed to it. He wanted to trained it on an motorized machine.

Since he wasn’t required to attack Yan Qiuchi, he rather focus all his efforts on Bai Qingquan. After all, Yan Qiuchi was the male god protagonist the author spent a lot of effort handcrafting. Who can beat such a person?

It’s strange. Though Bai Qingquan’s had soft facial features and a beautiful appearance, he did not look at all feminine. Shen Jintai had a hard time envisioning him as a 0*. He felt more like a 0.5 or a weak 1*.

*Reminder: 0 = shou/uke/bottom
*Reminder: 1 = gong/seme/top
*Clarity: 0.5 I don’t believe is an official term. It’s just more of saying Bai Qingquan is between a shou and a gong in terms of appearance. (Remember though, vers are a thing).

In danmei novels, the readers don’t typically eat feminine men*. Even a beautiful man like Bai Qingquan was very masculine.

*Feminine men (太娘) = this is a term to describe men that are more girly/feminine looking. Think stereotypical shou that could pass as a 10/10 woman.

Shen Jintai didn’t need to go outside if he wanted to exercise. There was a fitness room on the first floor of Yan’s manor near the swimming pool. Mrs. Yan told him that they also have a dedicated fitness instructor. “My personal trainer is not bad.” She said to Shen Jintai: “The young man is handsome and has good instructing abilities.”

It was better to have a fitness trainer to rely on for guidance.

“Then I’ll call him.” Mrs. Yan immediately went to call the fitness instructor. There was only her and Shen Jintai at the table today. Yan Yaoxuan and Yan Qiuchi weren’t home.

Mrs. Yan: “Yaoxuan is out celebrating one of his friend’s birthday so he won’t be back tonight. Qiuchi, like your Uncle Yan, socializes a lot and needs to attend various business dinners.”

“I heard that Sunshine Media is about to go public?” Shen Jintai said: “And our drama is about to start filming. He must be swamped.”

Mrs. Yan: “Yes, he’s very busy. So busy that he doesn’t have time for love.”

Auntie, you’re dead wrong. Once your son falls in love, he can easily squeeze out time between his fingers. Though his work is hectic, it won’t delay him from “every day and night”.

The personal trainer contacted by Mrs. Yan arrived soon. The coach’s surname was Li. He was a little excited when he saw Shen Jintai.

Mrs. Yan was very polite and excused herself, leaving them to chat in the living room. After a while they headed to the fitness room.

“What do you want to work on?” Coach Li asked.

Shen Jintai: “Ass.”

Coach Li asked Shen Jintai to practice hanging squats* and hip bridges* first.

Hanging squat, as the name suggests, is to bend your knees, pretend to sit on a chair, hold on for a few seconds, then slowly straighten your body. This is cycle back and forth.

*Hanging squats = basically squats but you hold the position for a bit. You can follow the link to learn how.
*Hip bridges = you lay on your back with bent knees and feet flat on the floors, then lift your hips. You can click the link to learn more. Note: the author never explained the latter part in the novel.

Coach Li usually serves elite rich ladies. It was the first time he was working with a big star. It wasn’t however the first time he saw Shen Jintai. He first saw him more than a year ago. At that time, Shen Jintai was still at the height of his popularity, and he wasn’t as crazy. His red hair made him look particularly conspicuous in the crowd. He had just finished instructing Mrs. Yan. Mrs. Yan had asked the driver to send him off and as he was getting into the car, he saw another car parked in front of him. Several people got out, including a young man with flamboyant red hair.

Who would have thought that one day he would be able instruct such a big star. He considered taking a selfie with Shen Jintai when they get better acquainted.

“Honestly, your ass looks perfect.” Coach Li said sincerely: “You don’t really need to work on it. Rather you should work on your abs.”

Shen Jintai also wanted to work on his abs, but his new role was a weak eunuch. Having abs was not a suitable figure for the role. In fact, he shouldn’t be working on his ass either. However, every time he showers, he couldn’t help but look at his ass. Seeing such a fleshy ass, he couldn’t help but think… he needed to work on it. Otherwise, he’ll feel awkward, as if he’s just a walking temptation. He was scared that others would notice his ass.

What kind of reward is this! It’s clearly a punishment!

Coachi Li felt that Shen Jintai didn’t need practice to improve his ass. This was the most perfect ass he had ever seen.

Human beings’ love for big butts seems be derived from their most primitive animal instincts. Whether it’s straight men to women, or attacking vs receiving, a big butt highly arouses their excitement… Even if the person is not all that good-looking, when the ass is big, they would have an indescribable allure. But men’s asses are different than a woman’s. If it’s too big, it’ll look unsightly. If it’s too flat, it’ll loses its’ beauty.

Shen Jintai’s shape and size was just right. It was a bit fleshy, especially when he was doing squats. Coach Li couldn’t help but stare. He was straight but… Coach Li coughed, got a bottle of mineral water, and took a few sips.

After a while Mrs. Yan also arrived, so he instructed the two at the same time.

Mrs. Yan had an open personality and was very informal. There are lots of fitness coaches who had affairs with these types of rich wives, and he occasionally would also flirt with these female trainees, relying on their affection to eat. But Mrs. Yan was different. There was no ambiguity between them. She was kind to him but strictly treated him like a coach. Over time, he grew to like working with Mrs. Yan the most.

Being ambiguous is also very tiring. In the case of other rich wives, he had to master the scale of the game while not being discovered by their husband. It was exhausting*!

*Clarity: he’s pretty much stuck between a rock and a hard place. He has to flirt with the rich wives to appease them so they won’t be unhappy (after all they are his clients) so they would continue business with him, while also trying to avoid getting caught by their husbands.

Shen Jintai’s body had not exercised for a long time. He was already sweating profusely within a few minutes of training.

Coach Li encouraged him from the side: “Hold on for a while. Hold on for a while.”

Yan Qiuchi had just arrived home. He usually works out when he had free time. At his age, he was like a young and strong wolf pup, full of abundant energy. He needed to be tired half to death before he could fall asleep peacefully.

After changing into his gym clothes, he headed downstairs to the fitness room. As soon as he walked into the gym, he heard Coach Li say: “Lower your ass.”

The author has something to say:

I’m finally going to be seen by Koike*.

So what beauty and sexy rewards do we all want? Leave comments in this chapter! A killer waist, Adam’s apple, eyebrows, the smell, sensitivity, and flushing skin! These have all been ordered.

*Koike (小池) = means “little pool” is referencing a poem by Yang Wanli. In this poem, the author uses rich and novel imagination and anthropomorphic techniques to delicately describe the characteristics and changes of the natural scenery around Koike. It shows the poet’s love for the natural scenery.

Kinky Thoughts: My internal thoughts when translating the ass part of this chapter, ‘This reminds me of the story of Goldilocks and the three bears when she’s trying out the chairs, soups, and bed (in term of ass preference): This one is too big, this one is too hot, this one is too cold, this one is too hard, this one is too soft… but this one is just right.’

Also, Shen Jintai is right to work on his ass. It’s going to be put to the test in the near future…

Side note: Shen Jintai have some more confidence in yourself, before or after you still look fine~~ This is what he looks like in the manhua: