LOI Chapter 22 — Earth-Shattering Gossip

After dinner, having tidied up the kitchen, Rong Ke put on his jacket.

Yan Zhi paused his typing and looked up from his laptop. “Where are you going?”

“Isn’t your throat sore?” Rong Ke said. “I’m going to buy you some medicine.”

“I don’t need medicine.” Yan Zhi rubbed the tip of his nose with his index finger. “Just stay with me a few more days and I’ll be fine.”

If it were just a mild cold, Rong Ke wouldn’t take medicine either.

However, he knew the difference between being sick and healthy was enormous. Even minor ailments could infinitely magnify feelings of loneliness, so he temporarily abandoned the idea of moving back home.

“But I still need to go back for a bit, to grab some lighter clothes,” Rong Ke said.

The clothes he had here were all down jackets and heavy coats. Though he could wear Yan Zhi’s, those clothes were clearly expensive, and Rong Ke didn’t want to wear them to buy groceries.

“I’ll come with you.” Yan Zhi set down his laptop and stood up from the sofa.

Rong Ke was baffled. “Why are you coming?”

“To see where you live.”

Rong Ke knew all too well how curious His Royal Highness could be. Seeing Yan Zhi had already put on his coat, he didn’t say much more and grabbed the car keys.

The evening rush hour hadn’t ended yet, so traffic was still congested.

It took Rong Ke nearly an hour and a half to reach Fuxin Garden. Though a full day’s drive for a hot spring getaway hadn’t irritated Yan Zhi, now he frowned. “Don’t you think you live too far away?”

“Not really,” Rong Ke said. “It’s close to the film and TV base.”

The elevator in the old complex was cramped, with tiny bugs swarming around the ceiling light. The corridor walls were untiled, covered in dirty footprints. The fire hydrant door hung open, its interior thick with cobwebs.

Yan Zhi’s brow had been furrowed since entering the complex. When he saw the pile of takeout trash by the neighbor’s door, he finally snapped. “Why don’t you just move in with me?”

“I can’t afford your rent.” Rong Ke opened his door. “My place is clean. Come in and have a seat.”

The tiny studio was spotless, with Rong Ke’s few belongings neatly arranged.

He placed his backpack on the bed and opened the wardrobe to take out the clothes he needed. Yan Zhi leaned against the bedroom doorframe, watching him while continuing to talk. “I won’t charge you rent. I’ll even cover your living expenses. How about that?”

Rong Ke chuckled. “You just want a personal chef, right?”

He prided himself on seeing through the prince’s little scheme.

Yan Zhi scratched his cheek with his index finger, his tone plaintive. “Think of me, all alone in a foreign land. I finally have a sister…”

“Stop with the pity party,” Rong Ke cut him off. “My lease isn’t up yet. We’ll talk about it later.”

“Then you can stay at my place until your lease expires,” Yan Zhi said.

Rong Ke’s mind blanked for a moment. What kind of logic was this?

Shouldn’t he be staying at Fuxin Garden until his lease was up?

He exhaled helplessly, packing the clothes into his backpack. “I’ll stay with you for a while longer, but once I start filming, I won’t be able to keep you company all the time.”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.” Yan Zhi’s tone lightened considerably. He tilted his head, eyeing Rong Ke’s belongings. “Why are all your underwear white?”

“I can’t be bothered to pick colors,” Rong Ke zipped up his backpack and looked at Yan Zhi. “It’s not like you’ll be seduced by them. Why do you care so much?”

“Hmm.” Yan Zhi nodded, concealing the depth in his eyes. “Indeed, I won’t be seduced.”

The paths in the complex were a maze. Most people would hesitate at unfamiliar intersections, but not Yan Zhi.

Even without knowing the way, he’d confidently stride forward on instinct, looking so sure that even Rong Ke started to doubt himself, wondering if he’d remembered the route wrong.

At another fork, Yan Zhi unhesitatingly went right. Rong Ke quickly grabbed his wrist. “Come here, you.”

“Wrong way again?” Yan Zhi said.

Just then, a girl suddenly caught up to them from behind, tentatively asking, “Excuse me, are you Yan Zhi and Rong Ke?”

Though Rong Ke wore a black mask, Yan Zhi had carelessly exposed his godly face to the night.

They spoke simultaneously.

Rong Ke: “No.”

Yan Zhi: “Yes.”

The girl became incredibly excited, clasping her hands to her mouth. “Oh my god, it really is Rong Yan Forever! What are you doing here?”

“Oh, are you a CP fan?” Yan Zhi asked.

Rong Ke hastily withdrew the hand holding Yan Zhi’s.

“You’re really together, aren’t you!” The girl suppressed a squeal, her eyes sparkling. “You must stay together forever, grow old together, have many chi- oh no, I mean, be together for a long, long time!”

Yan Zhi smiled and said, “Thank you.”

Rong Ke: “…” What are you thanking her for?

The girl didn’t linger, leaving after a string of well-wishes.

As they continued walking, Yan Zhi hooked an arm around Rong Ke’s neck. “When she asked if it was us just now, why did you deny it?”

Rong Ke felt a headache coming on. “I still have to live here, Dage¹!”

“I told you to move in with me.”

Rong Ke pushed away Yan Zhi’s arm and playfully put him in a headlock, feigning a fierce expression. “You’ll stop at nothing to get someone to cook for you, huh?”

“I won’t hide it anymore. That’s exactly right.”

The two horsed around as they left the complex, unaware that their CP’s super topic was celebrating New Year’s again.

[I saw the real thing!! Just ran into YZ and RK in a residential complex!! Hubby is so cool, doesn’t talk much, but wifey is so gentle, aww [image]]
– Damn, where is this? Can we still catch them?
– Is there only a photo of their backs? Got any clearer ones? /let me see /let me see
[I wished them to have children soon, and wifey said thank you!!!]
– Oh my goddddd they’re real!
– You didn’t ask hubby face to face? Was it really fifteen minutes?
– Above poster, that’s going too far
– Why couldn’t I run into them TT
– I’m going to run naked around the track to celebrate my CP being real

–

On the way back, Rong Ke also printed out the new drama project introduction Teacher Zheng had sent him.

The drama was called “Patchwork Family,” telling the story of orphanage-raised children relying on each other to survive.

Just looking at the title and synopsis, one might think it’s a heartwarming family drama, but that’s not the case. These orphans all have superpowers – flying, tunneling underground, manipulating minds – so it’s actually a fantasy action drama.

“This superpower is nice, mind-reading.”

Back home, after finishing his work, Yan Zhi also looked at the project introduction.

Rong Ke glanced at it and said, “That’s the main cast’s power. I definitely won’t get it.”

“How do you audition?” Yan Zhi asked. “Do they give you the character’s script first?”

“Not for this drama,” Rong Ke said. “They decide on the actors first, then assign roles. For auditions, it’s usually a talent showcase, like—”

Yan Zhi’s eyes lit up. “Strip dancing.”

Rong Ke: “…”

“Am I crazy? Who the hell showcases strip dancing as a talent?”

Yan Zhi asked, “So when will you dance for me?”

“Wait, do you actually want to learn or what?” Rong Ke asked. “If you’re serious about learning, I suppose I could teach you.”

In reality, teaching wasn’t practical. The kind of striptease Rong Ke did required specially made costumes – clothes and pants designed to tear away easily.

They had nothing like that at home now. How could he teach?

Just then, a WeChat notification popped up. He picked up his phone, abandoning the previous topic.

[Xin Ran: Ke-zi², Guatian is spreading dirt about you. It can’t be true, right?]

—Xin Ran was Rong Ke’s female friend who always wore makeup even at home. They met while filming before and had a decent relationship.

Rong Ke opened Guatian and scrolled for a while before finally finding a post that seemed related to him.

[Earth-shattering gossip: A recently popular young actor used to be a male escort]

My cousin knows this guy. They worked at the same bar before. It was a host club, a famous playground for rich older women.

Later, that bar was shut down, and many escorts were arrested, including him.

The thread below already had several hundred replies, having long decoded through the OP’s keywords like “cover,” “CCTV drama” that the young actor referred to Rong Ke.

[Spreading rumors is illegal, you know]
[Isn’t the OP’s cousin also arrested then?]
[I think it’s quite credible. Wasn’t RK shelved before? It’s normal for him to work at a bar]
[If he really wanted to sell himself, would he have been shelved?]
[Who knows what’s going on behind the scenes]
[Not to mention, has anyone seen “Chasing Ice”? His drug-using scene doesn’t look fake at all]
[I agree. I’ve seen my friend use before, and it looks exactly the same. Someone who’s never used probably couldn’t act it out]
[What do you mean? So RK not only sells himself but also uses drugs?]
[666, these entertainment circle law-breakers always manage to lower my expectations]

These comments were from an hour ago. The later ones got more and more outlandish, with some people even analyzing Rong Ke’s scenes in “Chasing Ice” frame by frame, concluding: he definitely has used drugs before.

Perhaps seeing Rong Ke’s extremely grave expression, Yan Zhi leaned over. “What are you looking at?”

“I think we need to set up a studio,” Rong Ke handed his phone to Yan Zhi. “We might need to clarify a lot of things in the future.”

As Yan Zhi read, his brows furrowed. “Don’t these people know they’re legally responsible for spreading rumors?”

“It’s fine. Most of the gossip on Guatian is fake. It won’t cause much of a stir.”

Rong Ke didn’t say the latter half—unless there’s someone pushing it.

Just as he finished speaking, the doorbell suddenly rang.

The two looked at each other, both finding it strange. Rong Ke walked to the entrance and opened the door to find two police officers standing outside. “Who is Rong Ke?”

Rong Ke: “I am.”

“Someone reported you for drug use. Come with us.”

Rong Ke: “…”

Soon after, #Rong Ke Drug Use# exploded on the trending topics.