Here We Go Again

The Weibo post had a short caption, but that only made it more sensational-

[Does the Blue-White Pairing count as two stars meeting at the top?]

The accompanying image was a screenshot of him and Qi Lan on a variety show years ago. Two fresh-faced boys with outdated hairstyles and cheap polyester clothes were playing a piece together on a classroom piano.

There was also a solo photo of each of them at a platform's year-end gala. Dressed in haute couture and walking red carpets and flower-strewn paths, they had transformed into dazzling stars.

Xie Yibai handed the phone back to A Chu. "Who's that bored? He and I don't even follow each other."

A Chu kept an eye on online public opinion all day, and she explained her analysis to him. "We don't know yet, but think about it. If word that you and Qi Lan used to be good friends spreads widely and everyone accepts it, your names will be tied together! The CP that helped him join the top-tier stars was so popular that his core fans either shipped that pairing or are die-hard solo stans. If you get on his bad side, watch out-they'll drag you to death."

Xie Yibai brushed it off. "His fans have already dragged me plenty. Let them be."

"I swear on my years of experience stanning stars and being in fandoms, it's not that simple this time. We need to keep our guard up," A Chu said.

"Mm, then keep an eye on it for me." Xie Yibai didn't know much about the internet, nor did he want to spend the time and energy picking it apart. He trusted A Chu's ability, and it wasn't easy for her to handle all those miscellaneous tasks every day. He asked, "Are you free later? Can you come home with me? I have some things I need to ask you to deal with."

An executive manager's duties were much like a personal assistant's. A Chu's job was to make him the center of her world and work around him nonstop. "Sure. What do you need me to deal with? Pet supplies?"

She was exceptionally observant and had long since noticed that his puppy had a room packed with toys and dog beds. None of them were cheap, but they were unused things he no longer needed at home and that would be a shame to throw away.

Xie Yibai kept her in suspense. "No, they're for you."

He Limei had been there less than a week and had bought more than a dozen new bags. She was easily swayed and couldn't resist a salesperson's compliments, buying three or four colors of the same bag. Afterward, she decided she didn't like some of the colors and couldn't stand the sight of them, so she piled them all in Xie Yibai's apartment.

Xie Yibai asked if she wanted him to send them back to her hometown. She said there were too many to fit in her house, so she took only her favorite color of each style and left the rest with him.

His mother was extravagant, and he had no sisters to share them with. Fortunately, all his managers over the years had been women, so the pile of bags finally had somewhere to go.

Xie Yibai had fought his way through a business full of snobs and understood that a small favor could earn gratitude, while too much generosity could breed resentment. There were ten bags in all. He told A Chu to pick two she wanted and contact a secondhand luxury store to collect the rest, with the money to be paid into his personal account.

A Chu really loved her job. Not only was she paid to follow a star, but she also had countless unadvertised perks. She picked two Chanel bags, a versatile classic black one and a denim one. She tried them on, praising them all the while. "Sister Lili has such amazing taste! She really knows what to buy!"

She was still young, and compared with Hermès, she found the quilted diamond pattern even harder to resist.

"Oh, right!" A Chu pulled a script out of the large tote she carried and handed it to him. "This was sent straight to the company, but the screenwriter didn't put a name on it, so I don't know where it came from. Sister Yin Ran told me to throw it away, but I read it, and I thought it was a really interesting story. Do you want to take a look?"

Xie Yibai didn't take it. "Can you go over Sister Yin Ran's head and screen scripts for me?"

"I don't have the authority or the qualifications, but this script really is good. It's a cut above that artsy second male lead role of yours. Take a look?" A Chu was like a little girl making a wish to him.

Xie Yibai indulged her. "Leave it here, then. I'll read it when I have time later."

But he had a busy person's forgetfulness, and before long he had forgotten all about the unsigned script.

After A Chu left, the housekeeper tidied the apartment and put all the documents on the table into a drawer in his study.

As Xie Yibai passed the dining table with the puppy in his arms, he had the nagging feeling that he had forgotten something, but he couldn't remember what it was right then. And so, once again, the story came to nothing.

Chapter 33: Here We Go Again

An Fei was thirty-one that year. Since her debut, she had never acted in a television series. She was a pure-blooded film actress whose pay had remained firmly in the top tier. She was immensely popular with audiences and widely known to the public, and her presence in a film was a guarantee of box-office success.

With filming about to begin, Zou Yan hosted a small gathering at his home and invited the female lead. His real purpose, of course, was to introduce the second male lead to her.

It was Xie Yibai's first time meeting An Fei. She was even more beautiful in person than on-screen, with fair, delicate skin, bright eyes, white teeth, and incredibly long legs.

Zou Yan's home was not somewhere just anyone could enter. An Fei brought him a gift for their meeting: two boxes of expensive tea. Looking at Xie Yibai, she said, "You must be Teacher Xiao Xie? I've heard so much about you, but seeing you in person is something else. You really are the pinnacle of beauty."

She was clearly flattering Zou Yan. Sure enough, the whole world knew about the questionable business between him and Zou Yan. Xie Yibai could only give an awkward laugh to cover his embarrassment.

Zou Yan pointed at the tea she had brought and asked a question he knew the answer to. "Is this for my dad?"

"I got something for your dad too. This is yours." An Fei and Zou Yan weren't exactly close, but they had met and exchanged gifts often enough to make conversation.

Zou Yan opened the deluxe tea gift box in front of her. "Actually, I've been drinking more coffee lately."

An Fei reached out to stop him. "Then don't open it. Give it back and I'll give it to someone else."

Zou Yan laughed and refused to give it back. Then he handed the box to a servant who had come to serve tea. "Thanks. That was thoughtful of you."

Xie Yibai thought back on all the times he had visited Zou Yan's home without ever giving him a present worth mentioning. Maybe he should order Zou Yan a few pounds of coffee beans?

"You really want to thank me?" An Fei grabbed a handful of pistachios from the snack box and cracked the shells. "Then call Director Ke and ask him to come over. I've been wanting to talk to him for ages."

Zou Yan didn't want to agree and gave an evasive answer. "I haven't seen him lately. Who knows what he's busy with?"

An Fei had said long ago that she wanted to work with Sheng Ke, but the chance had slipped past her time and again.

Zou Yan understood her. Among entertainers who held a steady place in the top tier, not one, man or woman, was content to leave things to fate. They were all ambitious. The popular wanted to be even more popular, the wealthy wanted fame, and those who had both fame and fortune wanted to move behind the scenes and fight for power.

No one was willing to settle for the status quo. They only wanted to advance, to climb to the top of the pyramid and look down on all the lesser peaks.

An Fei had spent ten years in the film industry and was now stuck at a bottleneck, caught uncomfortably between levels.

She was top-tier, but there was a tier above that, and above ordinary female stars were internationally acclaimed, award-winning leading actresses.

The market had proven An Fei's box-office value, but she had always fallen just short when it came to awards. She was willing to suffer for a shot at them, making herself look ugly or old in several artsy crime thrillers, only to be nominated and lose every time.

Winning an award had practically become an obsession for An Fei. In her forthright way, she admitted to Zou Yan that she made fluffy films like "Someone in This World Will Always Love You" for a share of the profits, then used the money to invest in art films with herself as the female lead.

She had sweet looks and the fashionable air of an urban sophisticate, which didn't go over well with the great fifth- and sixth-generation directors who had made their names adapting rural literature.

Looking at the film industry today, Sheng Ke was the sole remaining young director of note. With powerful backing, he had considerable creative freedom, and his luck with awards was enough to make anyone jealous. His previous films, "Madam Huanqing" and "Home," had produced a Best Actress winner at both the Golden Rooster and Golden Horse Awards and a Best Actress winner at the Tokyo International Film Festival, respectively.

Little Great Director had made few films, but his achievements were plentiful. Who knew how many people wanted to fight for top billing in his new film? An Fei wanted to make the first move.

She had no personal connection with Sheng Ke, so she was counting on Zou Yan for a way in.

Zou Yan had invited her over in the hope that she would look after Xie Yibai and remember to leave the second male lead some room to show what he could do on set.

But trading the second male lead in a fluffy film for the female lead in Sheng Ke's new film was a losing deal, and a massive one at that. Zou Yan didn't do business like that.

"I really don't know what his next film is," Zou Yan said. "What if he changes his mind and writes a story about men? If I gave you a decorative female lead role, would you take it?"

Sheng Ke's breakthrough work, "Yesterday Hangs High," was a crime film with action elements. Zou Yan had used his father's connections to bring in Best Actor winner Liang Heng, and the film's stunning success was also thanks to several masterful performances by the veteran actor.

However, Sheng Ke had a very low opinion of male actors other than Liang Heng. He said they couldn't be taught and wouldn't listen, and that working with fools was torture. After that, he refused to make any more films centered on men.

There was nothing Zou Yan could do about him, so he could only let him be.

"So what if the female lead is just decoration? As long as you give me the role, I'll make it distinctive." An Fei steeled herself. "I don't mind doing it for no pay. You're Director Ke's regular producer, so surely you have a say in casting a decorative female lead? Zou Yan, do me this favor. I know Teacher Xiao Xie studied music, and I still haven't found anyone to sing the OST for my film."

Zou Yan looked at Xie Yibai. "Xiaobai, do you want to sing the OST?"

Xie Yibai had sung several OSTs for long-form dramas he had starred in. He wasn't a singer-songwriter and didn't receive royalties, only a one-time performance fee, so the income was better than nothing.

But the commercial film An Fei was financing herself wouldn't have a low production budget, so the singing fee should be more substantial than for a web drama. His second male lead role was practically a cameo, so he couldn't count on the acting fee. If he could earn a little more, he might as well.

He replied, "Mm, I can give it a try!"

After reaching an agreement with Zou Yan and drinking two cups of tea, An Fei took her leave. She added Xie Yibai on WeChat and said, "See you on set, then, Teacher Xiao Xie."

Xie Yibai and Zou Yan walked her out together and watched her get into her car.

As they returned to the courtyard, he remarked, "Making movies is so hard... Sister An Fei is already such a famous actress, and she still has to worry about finding good roles?"

"It's the same as with TV dramas. Good scripts are hard to find, and there are too many monks and too little porridge," Zou Yan said, accustomed to it. "She's restrained by comparison. You haven't seen those top film actresses fighting over a script. That's a real bloodbath. Even my dad can't handle them."