Chapter 4 – Don’t Call Me Husband
The result of his over-the-top flattery was being kicked out in a fit of rage before he even got to watch Yan Shengping eat. Lin Ganzhi wasn’t angry this time. At least, through this ordeal, he discovered that his boss—no, his partner—didn’t seem as difficult to get along with as the book described.
For example, no matter how much he disliked something, he wouldn’t resort to violence. The worst he did was toss a sweater onto the sofa. Also, when someone targeted him, he would stand up and protect him. The key was that he was seriously hot. If he weren’t a character in a story, Lin Ganzhi might have actually considered trying to pursue him.
Of course, Lin Ganzhi himself was very much against office romances. That last point was strictly for fantasizing.
After dinner, Lin Ganzhi blissfully returned to his room and soaked in a comfortable hot bath.
Only after the eventful day had ended did Lin Ganzhi have time to properly look at his current self.
This body’s face was almost identical to his own in his past life, except the hair was dyed pink and slightly curly. If it weren’t for this face, he would have almost forgotten that he used to have so much flesh on his cheeks. A long time ago, it seemed many people had complimented his baby fat, saying it looked very pinchable.
He was an orphan, and his ambitions since childhood had been simple: study hard, work hard, and then own his own house so he could have a safe haven. Having been bent into a mosquito coil, he didn’t expect to have a family, and a partner was something he’d leave to fate.
Even though he attended an arts college, he never got involved in messy relationships with other men. Many people wanted to pursue him, but Lin Ganzhi knew all too well what he needed most.
So he considered himself a pragmatic person.
He took on acting roles during his school years, accepting any part, big or small. Once, he was squeezed out of a decent third male lead role he had auditioned for by someone an investor suddenly brought in. He didn’t get angry. After all, he had been accustomed to class disparities since he was young. He happily accepted the fourth male lead role in the drama.
Even though the fourth male lead was unlikable and he was cursed out on trending topics after the show aired, he had gained some fame. This meant he could get more work.
A year after graduating, he had made the down payment on a house in the suburbs of this incredibly expensive city.
But just as he felt everything was heading in the right direction, the agency he signed with actually tried to pimp him out because some boss had taken a liking to him. Lin Ganzhi knew the unwritten rules of the entertainment industry; refusal meant being blacklisted. But he never expected that boss to be a pervert, the kind who could take half your life in one night.
Lin Ganzhi sold the house he bought at a low price and still owed tens of thousands to terminate his contract with the agency. He had thought that if he couldn’t be a proper actor, he could still earn some money to pay off his debts as an extra with his looks. But that boss had no intention of letting him go. He casually spread some rumors, causing Lin Ganzhi to suffer from cyberbullying for half a year. At that time, let alone being an extra, he couldn’t even get a job in a regular office.
After several painful struggles, he started doing manual labor, hauling bricks during the day and delivering food at night. It took him a year to pay off his debt. But just then, his stomach pain became so severe he fainted. A kind person sent him to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with terminal stomach cancer. Until his final death, Lin Ganzhi never understood why someone like him was born into this world. Was it to serve as a reference textbook for all the suffering in the world?
But now, Lin Ganzhi understood what it meant to endure the bitterest of hardships to rise above others!
With a salary of one million a month, even if his boss only kept him for a year, he could save enough money to travel the world and then find a small city with pleasant scenery to buy a house. During the day, he could find a small job to enrich his life.
People’s evaluation of him would always be: “Little Lin, huh? A pretty smart young man, and good-looking too. Just doesn’t have a partner. I should introduce him to someone next time.”
And then at night, he’d be the prince of the nightlife, searching for true love and all that.
Hehe~
Lin Ganzhi chuckled to himself again.
Oh, right. He had to nurse his boss back to health before he left. Otherwise, he would be failing the high salary his boss was paying him!
As for the love-brain persona, he’d just have to keep acting for now. Otherwise, he couldn’t think of any legitimate reason to stay here.
Lying in bed, Lin Ganzhi habitually picked up his phone to browse Weibo. As soon as he opened it, he saw 99+ private messages.
Hiss. Based on his experience with being slandered, it was best for his own good not to click on them.
He backed out and checked the trending topics. Wow! Of the thousands of trending topics, the main top and bottom occupied half of them!
Something about the two of them exchanging meaningful glances across an aisle at some banquet.
Something about them holding hands with tacit understanding at the press conference for a movie they co-starred in.
On some variety show, the main top Luan Yuanzhou deliberately teased Zhong Jingyi, looking just like he did when they were young.
Hiss!
Lin Ganzhi’s teeth ached with cringe as he exited. He should go buy some sensitive toothpaste with Uncle Yan sometime. At his age, seeing this stuff really made his teeth ache.
But just as Lin Ganzhi was about to exit Weibo, a conspicuous entry on the entertainment chart caught his eye: #UniversallyDislikedCP#. If he wasn’t mistaken, this was about him and Yan Shengping.
Lin Ganzhi’s hand slipped and he clicked on it. Inside were a few of the original owner’s promotional photos and a blurry photo of Yan Shengping’s back, probably taken by paparazzi when he was still at Zhong’s Chips. The comments section had over ten thousand entries.
[I say this is karmic justice, anyone disagree?]
[To be honest, I’m so jealous of Baby Yi’s life. It’s like he’s living in a universally adored protagonist novel. One minute that annoying Lin Ganzhi is shamelessly hitting on Baby Yi’s fiancé, the next someone takes care of him and packs him off to his annoying brother. Hahahaha, I’m so satisfied.]
[Why are there no front-facing photos of Mr. Yan? Is he too ugly to look at? After all, he’s not Baby Yi’s biological brother!]
[Then Lin Ganzhi is a perfect match for him. He’s always wearing fakes and insisting he understands fashion. It’s hilarious. Now he can go talk fashion with the old man!]
[Aaaaaah! So this is what it feels like when two people you simultaneously hate get together. Double the joy!]
***
The comments below were almost all in this style. Although it was Lin Ganzhi’s body being insulted, Lin Ganzhi found it hard not to understand the joy of this generation of netizens. But the insults directed at Yan Shengping were a bit much. If someone of Yan Shengping’s caliber was considered ugly, then there were no beauties left in the entertainment industry. Lin Ganzhi scrolled for two minutes before exiting with a snort.
He would start by refusing to be mentally drained!
Just as he was turning off his phone to sleep, a message popped up on WeChat. He clicked on it. It was from someone named Brother Zhang:
[Lin Ganzhi, all your upcoming schedules have been canceled. The TV series you signed on for a while ago, I’ve had a new company talent replace you. The public opinion pressure is too great right now, and you didn’t inform the company in advance about your marriage to Yan Shengping. But the Zhong family’s influence is what it is, so I won’t rashly terminate your contract. In short, keep a low profile for a while, don’t say anything reckless on Weibo. I’ll let you know when there are new schedules.]
Lin Ganzhi thought, Bro, you’ve basically just said your inner monologue out loud.
This “Brother Zhang” must be the original owner’s manager, Zhang Dianhuai. He was a workaholic and the company’s second pillar. His motto was, “There’s nothing that can’t be solved with overtime,” with the second line being, “Only incompetent people wait until overtime to solve problems,” and the banner reading, “Heh.” He was ruthless in his methods but disdained shady tricks. He was also protective of his own. Otherwise, with the original owner’s dramatic antics, he would have been kicked out of the entertainment industry long ago. The fact that he was only facing online ridicule now was all thanks to this manager taking time out of his busy schedule to manage public opinion.
Lin Ganzhi didn’t neglect someone who had helped him. He replied politely: [Okay, thank you for your hard work, Brother Zhang.]
The other side paused for a moment. The interface showed that he was typing, then stopped. Just as Lin Ganzhi was about to exit, the other side started typing again. It was truly nerve-wracking!
Lin Ganzhi: [Is there anything else, Brother Zhang?]
Zhang Dianhuai: [Lin Ganzhi, are you being abused at Yan Shengping’s place? Or did you just take the wrong medicine? This is the first time I’ve ever seen you be so polite to me.]
His words were sharp and sarcastic. As expected of the sharp-tongued Zhang.
Lin Ganzhi typed back furiously: [(Shy) Brother Zhang, I’m currently being transformed by love!]
The other side was silent for thirty seconds before replying with a single word: [Scram!]
Alrighty then. Lin Ganzhi promptly pulled up his covers and went to sleep.
In the middle of the night, the sound of drizzling rain came from outside. The temperature seemed to drop with the rain. Lin Ganzhi groggily picked up the quilt he had kicked onto the floor and wrapped himself tightly in it, determined not to let a cold invade his body. Getting sick would cost money!
The little miser turned over, mumbled something, and went back to his sweet dreams.
The next day, Lin Ganzhi woke up bright and early. The temperature had dropped, and a light rain was falling outside. Lin Ganzhi grabbed the cardigan Yan Shengping had tossed on the sofa yesterday and put it on. After washing up, he went downstairs to prepare breakfast. At that time, Uncle Yan had just woken up and was startled to see Lin Ganzhi up so early.
“Ganzhi, you’re up so early for?”
Lin Ganzhi sharpened a knife like a good wife. “To prepare breakfast for my husband.”
The blade scraped with a “shh-shh” sound.
…
While frightened, Uncle Yan also felt a little emotional. It seemed this kid wasn’t just putting on a show yesterday. Although he didn’t know what young people were thinking, at least he was being good to the master now, and the master was willing to eat. To him, that was the most important thing.
Lin Ganzhi planned to make a simple sandwich this morning. It was nutritious, not too stimulating, and paired with a glass of milk to soothe the stomach.
But just as he brought it out, Uncle Yan came downstairs with a grave expression. “The master has a fever. I’ve already contacted the doctor and am going to pick him up now. Ganzhi, please bring the master some warm water to drink, and make him eat something no matter what. If his stomach acts up now, the fever will get worse.”
Lin Ganzhi nodded quickly, but instead of just preparing warm water, he turned around and went to the kitchen to boil some ginger and brown sugar water. It seemed the book’s description of Yan Shengping’s weak constitution was true. The temperature had just dropped last night, and he already had a fever.
Lin Ganzhi, who hadn’t even thought about entering Yan Shengping’s room before yesterday, was now facing a special situation. He gently knocked on the white door a few times. There was no response from inside. After a moment of mental preparation, Lin Ganzhi pushed the door open and went in.
Seeing the room’s decor, Lin Ganzhi was slightly surprised.
If his room was in a simple, modern style, Yan Shengping’s room was just heavy. The deep gray color scheme made the already spacious room feel somewhat claustrophobic. The curtains were drawn tightly, blocking out any light, leaving only the small night light by the bed emitting a pale glow. He could even faintly smell the scent of medicine in the room. It was extremely oppressive.
The white light cast on Yan Shengping’s pale, almost transparent profile. His handsome face was flushed with a sickly red. Uncle Yan had pushed back his bangs to place a small ice pack on his forehead. His beautiful lips were slightly parted, allowing oxygen to enter weakly. His brows were knitted so tightly they almost touched.
It had to be said, in this situation, the hidden face-con Lin Ganzhi’s heart ached for him.
He carried the ginger water in and closed the door behind him.
“Husband?” Lin Ganzhi sat down by the bed, his soft, sweet voice calling out to Yan Shengping.
Perhaps due to an ingrained dislike for this title, Yan Shengping, who hadn’t even been woken by Uncle Yan, managed to pry his eyelids open. His eye sockets were red, and his eyes were hazy. Anyone who didn’t know better would think he had been thoroughly bullied by Lin Ganzhi.
“I told you, don’t call me that! Cough, cough, cough!” Yan Shengping couldn’t help but cough after saying just those few words. The coughing grew more intense, and unable to bear it, he turned his head to the side and buried it in the covers, leaving only his shoulders trembling pitifully.
Lin Ganzhi put down the cup and quickly patted Yan Shengping’s back. This scene was like seeing his former self. Having cancer and then catching a cold was like adding frost to snow. He would wake up in the middle of the night in his small rental room, coughing violently, the pain pulling at his stomach until dawn. The fever would come and go, the pain would come and go, and there wasn’t even anyone to hand him a glass of water.
“When your fever is gone, I won’t call you that anymore.” Although it was a great pity not to be able to call him husband, Lin Ganzhi made a concession for the sake of this stubborn donkey’s speedy recovery.
After coughing for a while, Yan Shengping finally caught his breath and lay on the bed, panting. “You mean it?”
Tsk, look at that. He doesn’t trust me now, does he?
Lin Ganzhi pouted and said mournfully, “I’ve already made a huge concession. If you still don’t trust me, husband, that would be impolite.”
Perhaps because his brain was fuzzy from the fever, Yan Shengping now had a childish streak. Hearing this, he immediately shut up and lay quietly, and although his complexion was still poor, a hint of pleasure could be seen in his eyes.
Tsk~
Lin Ganzhi was even more annoyed.
“Here, drink the ginger soup first.”
Yan Shengping closed his eyes, his refusal swift and decisive.
Lin Ganzhi never understood why Yan Shengping repeatedly tormented his own body. The book said that he was the one who always initiated conflicts with Zhong Jingyi, painting him as a selfish person. How could a selfish person torture himself like this?
Regardless, Lin Ganzhi was on duty now, and he couldn’t allow his boss to kick the bucket!
“Husband, do you want me to be a widow?” Lin Ganzhi said mournfully.
Yan Shengping was so provoked that his eyes flew open, filled with disbelief, as if to say: How can you say such a thing?
“…Hand it over.” He was completely giving up.
A minute later, Lin Ganzhi cheerfully took the empty bowl. The ashen color on Yan Shengping’s face had receded quite a bit, but unhappiness was still written all over his face. No one likes to be threatened, especially not the once-glorious Yan Shengping.
“You rest well. I’ll go down and make you some congee!” Lin Ganzhi stood up. Yan Shengping gave a resigned “mm” and haphazardly closed his eyes.
Seeing him like this, Lin Ganzhi felt like he was looking at his past self. But Yan Shengping was different from him. Even if he was loathed by everyone, he could still find a place to settle down in the end, and he had Uncle Yan who genuinely cared for him.
He didn’t know how long he stood there. Yan Shengping’s eyelids, which had been fluttering at first, finally stilled.
Lin Ganzhi took a deep breath. Although he couldn’t say it to his face, now that he was asleep… “Since you chose to live, why make yourself live so miserably? At least you still have a home. Suffering just becomes entertainment for others to watch. You might as well live happily and make those who hate you green with envy.”
Even during that most difficult year, hauling bricks during the day and delivering packages at night, he still reminded himself to be happy. After all, life’s script was already so hellish. If he wasn’t happy, there was really nothing left in this world for him to cherish.
After speaking, Lin Ganzhi left the room.
A long time later, Yan Shengping opened his eyes. They were now clear. He curled his fingers under the covers, his gaze on the door gradually deepening.