Your Rival in Love Gets Prettier Every Day

Chapter 45: Returning Your Suit Jacket

The crew immediately surrounded them at once. Shen Jintai felt dizzy. When he opened his eyes, he saw Bai Qingquan’s face. In a dazed, he could hardly tell if he was still in reality or the drama. It was as if he had became Li Xu. Otherwise, how could he hear the prince Zhou Jing in front him.

He grabbed the hand and pulled on it firmly. He suddenly heard Bai Qingquan call out to him: “Shen Jintai.”

Shen Jintai frozed, then came back to his senses. He quickly waved his hand and said: “I’m okay. I’m okay.” He stood up holding Bai Qingquan’s arm as the people around him looked at him nervously.

“He has a fever.” Bai Qingquan said to Director Guo.

“Are you okay?” Director Guo said: “I was wondering why your face was so red.”

His face was flushed, and his eyes were scattered. Usually, Shen Jintai’s eyes were extremely energetic and bright. Seeing him like this now, Bai Qingquan wanted to take a picture of his eyes thinking it looked very funny.

Fainting in public was not a good siutation. Shen Jintai felt embarrassed. He recovered after a bit and was taken to the hospital by Xiao Tang and Li Meilan.

“You really scared me to death.” Li Meilan said: “We want to be famous and make money, but our body has to come first. In the beginning, we fought alone, didn’t we just want to work leisurely? Xiao Tang too! Why didn’t you tell me anything?”

Shen Jintai laid in the car and said: “It’s just a fever. It’s not a big deal. I have already taken medication. It should work out.”

When he got to the hospital and had his temperature taken, it was almost 40* degrees. The doctor said that an infusion was necessary.

*104 degrees Fahrenheit. That is a very bad fever up to dangerous levels.

Li Meilan went out to call the crew. Just after saying a few words, she saw a familiar person walking over with a fruit basket, followed by a middle-aged man wearing sunglasses looking very stylish. It turned out to be Monsoon Entertainment’s CEO, Ji Fengxing.

Ji Fengxing hooked his hand, and Tian Wenwen quickly handed him the fruit basket. He carried it as he greeted Li Meilan.

When Shen Jintai heard voices coming from outside, he glanced up and saw Li Meiland leading Ji Fengxing in. He abruptly sat up. Ji Fengxing waved his hand quickly, and said: “Lie down, I heard you were sick, so I came to visit.”

Shen Jintai knew that Monsoon Entertainment wanted to sign him, but the fact that Ji Fengxing came in person and so quickly made him beyond moved by the sincerity. He was very emotional. Sometimes sincerity is more important than strength.

Sure enough, after a few exchanges, Ji Fengxing stretched out his hand. Tian Wenwen immediately took out a stack of papers from his bag. Ji Fengxing handed it over to Shen Jintai: “Perhaps you’re still not satisfied with the conditions we offered last time. I have asked the people below to draft up a new offer. Look at it again and see if this meets your requirements. This is really the highest condition we can offer.”

“This really is the first time our company had made such an exception.” Tian Wenwen added.

“Thank you, President Ji.” Shen Jintai took it in his hand and said: “I will seriously consider it.”

“I heard that Sunshine Media had also made some moves and wants to sign you.” Ji Fengxing smiled and said: “Singing a contract is a big deal. You should think carefully about it. I want to add that when you come to our company, you will be in our big brother*. Sunshine Media already has Bai Qingquan who they considered as their biological son. He signed with them as soon as he debuted. His position will not be shaken by anyone. Now that <The East Palace> is popular, his popularity will continue to rise to an outstanding level. Although you two are different types, you are still the same age. If you go with Sunshine, there will inevitably be competition. Instead of going with Sunshine and rank behind Bai Qingquan, come to our company and be your own boss.”

*Big brother/big boss/first brother (一哥) = refers to meaning the boss, leader, master ect. It’s a new term that recently emerged. For example, when used in a unit, it usually refers to the top leader of that unit. In the context here, it probably mean the #1 talent in their company.

As soon as Ji Fengxing left, Zhang Yuan from Sunshine Media also came with a proposal. Before Zhang Yuan set off, he had read the contract conditions to Gao Qiao. Gao Qiao thought it was good and was in line with the current industry standards.

“Shen Jintai should sign it.” Gao Qiao said.

Zhang Yuan: “I just want to make one final confirmation. Did President Yan really say that it’s business as usual?”

Gao Qiao: “President Yan had always made a clear distinction between public and private. You may not know this but when Shen Jintai debuted, President Yan wanted to sign him, but he refused saying he wanted his freedom.”

Zhang Yuan said: “Our company development has good momentum. Given Shen Jintai and President Yan’s relationship, I think he will probably agree. The conditions we gave are quite good.” Thinking about this Zhang Yuan couldn’t hide his happiness: “In fact, if Shen Jintai signs with our company, the combined talent of him and Bai Qingquan will definitely be prosperous.”

It was already good that Shen Jintai and Bai Qingquan were together in the same drama. To have them be brothers in the same company was even more exciting.

What’s more, these two people are completely two different types, but they can both make huge waves in the entertainment industry. The more Zhang Yuan thought about it, the more excited he became. He brought a bouquet of flowers with him as he went to the hospital. When he reached Shen Jintai’s ward, he knocked on the door.

Li Meilan came over to open the door and was stunned when she saw that it was him.

Zhang Yuan smiled and said: “Hello, I am Zhang Yuan from Sunshine Media.”

Zhang Yuan was well-known in the industry so of course Li Meilan recognized him instantly. She couldn’t help but questioned what was going on today. Shen Jintai had fainted, then suddenly good things started to fall out of the sky. When the monsoon had left, the sunshine appeared.

She smiled and said, “Please come in.”

—

When Zhang Yuan set off, Gao Qiao sent a message to Yan Qiuchi: [Zhang Yuan had set off.]

Yan Qiuchi replied simply with a: [Nn.]

Gao Qiao was a little nervous. He wanted Shen Jintai to sign, but was also afraid of Shen Jintai signing. He still remembered last year when Shen Jintai was still chasing President Yan. He rushed directly in front of the car acting like a lunatic.

Due to Yan Qiuchi’s culture and dignified nature, he would never embarrass Shen Jintai in public. When situation like these arises, Gao Qiao was the one who had to step in. He did what his boss couldn’t do and pulled Shen Jintai arm to drag him away. As a result, Shen Jintai slapped him, became even more crazed, and told him to fuck off.

Gao Qiao had really hated him since then. He couldn’t even retaliate against Shen Jintai. The two of them were born unequal. Shen Jintai could slap him, but he couldn’t hit him back. Fortunately, President Yan intervened and for the first time in public, rebuked Shen Jintai.

The incident made a lot of noise that attracted bystanders’ attention. It was photographed by the paparazzi and made headlines. Yan Qiuchi had always acted gentlemanly when in public. No matter who the other was, he always remained polite with them. Though he doesn’t talk much, he had a clear line between love and hate. The best way to deal with people like Shen Jintai who was paranoid and willful, was to simply ignore them.

Gao Qiao knew that Yan Qiuchi broke his image mainly to support him at that time. He worked under President Yan, and it was natural for his boss to protect him. He couldn’t help feeling he had a very good employee-boss relationship.

He was a child from a poor family. Because of the Yan’s poverty alleviation fund, he was able to be admitted and graduated from a famous university. There were other better places to go to at that time, but after hearing that the Yan family had established Sunshine Media, he wanted to repay their kindness and joined the company without any hesitation.

He had always followed Yan Qiuchi and it can be said that he had accompanied Yan Qiuchi from the start of Sunshine Media until this day. Though Yan Qiuchi doesn’t usually chat much with him, he had treated him very well and attached great importance to him. While the title of the CEO’s assistant may not be big, he still had real power and sway.

Gao Qiao had felt that Yan Qiuchi’s life was not easy. From the perspective of outsider, he became a boss at a young age and his family was extremely wealthy. Having a father like Yan Tiefeng, everything could be easily done. Only he knew the real pressure that Yan Qiuchi faces.

As a young man in his twenties, he was in charge of the livelihoods of hundreds of families. Yan Qiuchi worked day and night devoting almost all his time to his job that he couldn’t even rest for a few days in a year. He worked tirelessly and devotedly.

They were both twenty-five yet have never been in love. It wasn’t that it hasn’t been talked about, it just there really was no suitable match. He had followed Yan Qiuchi every day, so he knew it best.

If the world was a big fan circle, he was Yan Qiuchi’s only fan.

President Yan was truly a great catch! He’s tall and handsome, has a good family background, and high level of education and cultivation. He was also pure and clean and a just person. However, due to Shen Jintai’s involvement, he was dragged into the gossip world and was painted as licentious by others.

Could you understand the mood when your cooking is being tied up by some star who was not worthy to rub the heat and stir up gossip?! Can’t he let his brother be beautiful alone?!

Hanging on to his fanboy mood of “no one can match my brother”, Gao Qiao didn’t have any good impression of all the people who rushed to Yan Qiuchi.

In the future, Shen Jintai would come to Sunshine Media so he must be optimistic.

Estimating that enough time had passed, he called Zhang Yuan: “Is it settled?”

Zhang Yuan replied: “No.”

Gao Qiao was shocked: “What conditions did he propose?”

Zhang Yuan: “He signed Monsoon Entertainment.”

Gao Qiao was dumbfounded. His heart was throbbing. But… Monsoon Entertainment was their rival! His mind became confused as it was flooded by images of the Shen Jintai of the past and the Shen Jintai of the present. The two did not overlap creating a phantom image that he could not see clearly.

“What should I do?” Zhang Yuan said: “Would you like to talk to President Yan? We were a step too late. Monsoon came earlier than we did.”

“Let me talk to President Yan.” Gao Qiao said.

After hanging up the phone, he was silent for a minute before he called Yan Qiuchi: “Shen Jintai signed with Monsoon Entertainment.”

After a period of silence on the other end, Yan Qiuchi’s voice remained unchanged as he said: “I see.”

“It’s my fault,” Gao Qiao said: “I thought this was a shoo-in, so I just talked to Zhang…” His voice became anxious as he continued: “President Yan, I… I seem to have brought my personal feelings into work again.” It is really difficult to separate public and private.

He really had to admire Shen Jintai. When he loved, he was crazy about love. When he gave up, it was a clean break leaving no mud or stains behind. Truly impressive. Gao Qiao couldn’t help but compared it to how contrary he was. His vision was too small.

—

Shen Jintai laid on the hospital bed, reading the contract details one by one.

Li Meilan asked: “Have you decided yet?”

Shen Jintai nodded.

From the perspective of an actor, he actually wanted to sign with Sunshine Media. But if he enters Sunshine Media, he and Bai Qingquan will become competitors. The difference between competition at different companies versus competition in the same company was very subtle. Intuition told him that Bai Qingquan wouldn’t be happy if he joins Sunshine Media.

What’s more, there was also Yan Qiuchi. If he went with Sunshine Media, Yan Qiuchi, the people around him, and even netizens, especially his gold powder, would definitely think that his old feelings have been rekindled or that the thief’s heart had never died.

If he didn’t change his inverted image, let alone catching fire, his own gold powder would abandon him. Thinking about it this way, choosing Monsoon Entertainment was the best choice.

Setting aside the conditions offered by Monsoon Entertianment, the relationship between the two companies were sworn enemies. He wanted to be the first brother of Monsoon Entertainment and fight against Bai Qingquan, the first brother of Sunshine Media, to see who can stand tallest at the highest peak.

After the infusion, his body temperature had subsided. Li Meilan and Xiao Tang took him back to the hotel to rest. After getting out of the car in the underground parking lot, Shen Jintai was about to enter the elevator when he heard someone call to him: “Shen Jintai.” The voice was very familiar.

Shen Jintai turned his head and saw Yan Qiuchi get out of the car. Li Meilan and Xiao Tang were stunned when they saw him.

Li Meilan was in uttered shock. Is this real life? Did Yan Qiuchi come to talk to them in person?! Those rumors about Shen Jintai and Yan Qiuchi that she had heard before were all false!

“President Yan.” She greeted.

Yan Qiuchi nodded and walked directly to Shen Jintai. Shen Jintai put on his coat and looked at Yan Qiuchi.

“If you’re refusing Sunshine Media because of my personal feelings…” Yan Qiuchi said directly: “I can tell you that there is a clear distinction between public and private. I wanted to sign you before. That still hasn’t changed. I don’t have any prejudice against you now. On the contrary, I appreciate your abilities.”

Shen Jintai was speechless for a moment. He gave Yan Qiuchi a smile and said: “It is indeed partially due to our relationship, but it’s also for my personal future. I’m not afraid to sign because I think you’ll treat me unfairly.”

Shen Jintai, who was sick, looked haggard. When he laughed, he looked incredibly gentle and his eyes were sincere and clear.

Shen Jintai stretched out his hand as he said: “My feelings for you are in the past and I believe the feelings you had of me are also there as well, right?”

Yan Qiuchi shook his hand. Shen Jintai’s hands were freezing, but Yan Qiuchi’s were very hot. Letting go of his hand, Yan Qiuchi put his hand in his trouser pocket and asked: “Have you thought about it?”

“Well,“ Shen Jintai said with a smile: “Your company already has Bai Qingquan. As for me, no matter which company or field I’m in, I want to be number one.”

Yan Qiuchi smiled when he heard this. This was the first time he had seen Yan Qiuchi smile. It was very good-looking. People who don’t smile, when they suddenly do can cause a contagious feeling.

Yan Qiuchi said: “I really believe in you.” He truly felt anything is possible if it was Shen Jintai.

After Yan Qiuchi left, Li Meilan finally breathe out a long sigh of relief as they she got into the elevator: “Oh my god, what’s with this inexplicably feeling of coolness.”

Xiao Tang said: “I’m a little moved.”

Shen Jintai smiled and asked: “Because I was too upside down* before?”

*Reminder: upside down (倒贴) = refers to those who should have received money and things in turn give money. AKA they should have gotten benefits but instead gave benefits away.

“That’s great.” Xiao Tang said: “You are so good and so many people like you. Why would you want to ruin yourself.”

Only when you cherish yourself, will others love you.

It could be because he was sick, or he had that conversation with Yan Qiuchi, but when he returned to his hotel room, he became very emotional. He opened the closet and took out Yan Qiuchi’s suit jacket.

People can always change and sometimes they realize they couldn’t understand what was going on in their head at the start*.

*Clarity: he’s saying it’s like one day you wake up and become clearheaded. You question yourself WTF was I thinking?!

He threw the thong into the trash can, picked up Yan Qiuchi’s suit jacket and pondered for a while. He then called Xiao Tang.

On the morning of the second day, Yan Qiuchi received a package. It was his suit jacket.

The suit jacket that had disappeared from his bed on that fateful day. He vaguely remembered that Shen Jintai had worn it when he was kicked out and he had almost forgotten about it.

The suit jacket was washed, ironed very neatly, and a note was placed on it.

[I’m really sorry. Once upon a time, I was too young and naïve to love someone. No matter what, the Shen Jintai of the past is gone and the things that he had entangled you with will never happen again. I hope we will all have someone to love in the future.
– Shen Jintai.]

Yan Qiuchi folded the note and looked at his suit jacket. He thought about it for a while, then he put the small note into the chest pocket of the suit jacket and hung it in the closet.

He rarely smoked cigarettes. As the thin smoke from the cigarette drifted in the air, Yan Qiuchi watched the autumn sun rise. The golden sun shone on a pool of autumn water reflecting the pavilion.

The author has something to say：

What’s the matter with being a little sad?

A small suit jacket can write too much, and thousands of words are packed in it.

Suit Jacket: I feel that I will have an important part in the future, so I’ll stay quiet.

Kinky Thoughts: ‘Only when you cherish yourself, will others love you.’ Wise words from Xiao Tang.

I can’t help but feel a bit emotional about this chapter. This is really good character growth for Shen Jintai. I was not expecting him to join Monsoon TBH. The ending left me with a bittersweet feeling.

On a lighter note: I can’t help but the rottenness in me wants Ji Fengxing to join this mess of a love (what are we at now??) Square? Hexagon? Jiayou Shen Jintai! Be a shou master and catch em’ all!

Yan QuichiBai QingquanYan YaoxuanZang SiqiJi Fengxing (my bias is rooting for you!)

I really enjoy older men x younger guy (like about 7-10 years apart) romances… as long as the younger guy is at least over 20. (Not into that teenage shit).