Chapter 51 - Meeting Kang Jian Again
Chapter 51 – Meeting Kang Jian Again
Bai Lang had come to Full Circle to attend a shareholders meeting. Just by himself he represented two-thirds of the total share so if he didn’t come then their voting of matters wouldn’t be able to achieve an over 50% agreement rate and they could directly declare the meeting failed.
So as soon as Bai Lang stepped into the new building built last year by Full Circle, a skinny man with an employee swipe card around his neck, wearing denim jeans and a T-shirt came hurrying out of the elevator towards him. He wore a familiar smile to welcome him. “Ai, ai, young master Bai, we’re just waiting on you. This way, this way.”
These words “young master Bai” caused Kang Jian, who was waiting to be called in on the other side of the large and spacious reception room, to turn his head around.
Right now around Kang Jian there were several good looking young people gathered.
Today one of the departments of Full Circle was doing early tryouts for a brand commercial. It hadn’t gotten to the stage of auditions yet, so they were simply holding it in one of the offices on this lower level floor.
They were all in the same entertainment circle. When the young people who had come to try out saw their senior Kang Jian also appear in the same place, they all naturally got very excited. They all rushed over to greet him and try to get familiar. After chatting they realized that the reason Kang Jian had come to Full Circle today was to talk business. This must be high boss-level discussions. These young and lowly newcomers all felt they couldn’t compare to Kang Jian, so their eyes when they looked at him were filled with envy and admiration. Their words also become more and more respectful and pandering.
This new wave of newcomers to the entertainment world were all around seventeen to eighteen years old, because that was one of the requirements of Full Circle’s tryout. Three, four years ago, when Bai Lang was famous, these young fellows probably were still in middle school. They probably could only recall a few idol singers from that time, as for Bai Lang who was primarily an actor, they didn’t have any strong memories of him.
Thus when they saw Kang Jian behaviour change, they all asked curiously, “Senior Kang, do you know that person?”
“Is he also from our circle?”
“How come I don’t have any impression of him? Is he a newcomer?”
These seven or eight tongues were talking at the same time. In the tall and wide lobby the voices echoed loudly, until the sound even reached Bai Lang and he looked over together with the man who had come to receive him.
When their eyes met, Kang Jian felt as though something was squeezing his heart painfully.
It had been a long time since he had seen Bai Lang. When compared to three years ago, he hadn’t changed much but at the same time felt different. His skin was still white and delicate, his hair and brows dark and pure, everything about him was clean and elegant. When looking at him it gave one the feeling looking at a beautiful and translucent jade, you couldn’t help but want to get close. At this time the habitual smile on Bai Lang’s face hadn’t disappeared. Even though when he met Kang Jian’s eyes, it faded slightly however it was enough encouragement for Kang Jian to hurry over.
Kang Jian ignored the voices around him and as though he was being hypnotized, directly walked towards Bai Lang. “Ah Lang, it’s been a long time.
Bai Lang nodded his head. “Mr Kang.”
Kang Jian’s eyes immediately lit up. Because ever since Bai Lang became cold towards him, this was the first time he had shown him a friendly gesture!
Could, could it be because these years he had obtained some small results, hence Bai Lang’s misunderstandings towards him had faded!?
Kang Jian’s feelings towards Bai Lang right now were very complicated. Within his admiration there was mixed feelings of jealousy and unfairness. That’s why he had not objected to Li Sha making trouble for Bai Lang. However right now, Kang Jian felt his popularity exceeded Bai Lang’s. So once that jealousy was removed, the Bai Lang that evoked his dream desires now occupied the greater part of his thoughts. Now when Kang Jian stood in front of Bai Lang, his heart raced quickly.
So unable to help himself, Kang Jian quickly glanced down at Bai Lang’s hand.
He saw that the same white gold ring from three years ago that was still being snugly worn around Bai Lang’s finger.
Three years ago, Bai Lang had rushed out the award ceremony. Three weeks later, most people knew that Qiu Qian had been involved in an accident overseas. The original poisonous remarks that Bai Lang had “fled after losing” all immediately changed to praises for his love and loyalty. After that there was no more news about Bai Lang in the entertainment circle. Even Chaos Street, which was halfway through promotions, disappeared. All the way up until a few days ago, when Total Entertainment made a simple announcement that Chaos Street would re-commence filming after three years.
When he saw the ring, Kang Jian’s eyes went dark. He also discovered two shadows coming closer. It wasn’t until then that Kang Jian saw two tall and big bodyguards following Bai Lang from behind. Since Bai Lang had been stopped by someone they didn’t recognize, they came closer to make sure everything was okay.
Kang Jian quickly organized his expression. He smiled at Bai Lang again. “It was only a little while ago I heard that you returned to the country and now we already met again. It must be fate so we definitely need to find a day to have a good chat. It’s been three years, things have changed a lot in China. There’s alot of news within the circle that you might not know and I can catch you up. That way you won’t make any mistakes.”
After talking Kang Jian took out his phone, intending to ask Bai Lang for his phone number again. However at this time another unfamiliar voice interrupted them. “Mr Kang? You’re here ah.”
Everyone turned around and saw a man in a suit coming towards them. He looked like some type of manager and he was also wearing an employee pass around his neck. He bowed respectfully at them, then turned to Kang Jian. “Mr Kang, the Vice General Manager has been waiting in the meeting room for you for quite a while. You….” He respectfully let the rest of the words trail off.
Kang Jian paused then remembered he had come here on business. His was representing his new trading company and had come to Full Circle to discuss and sign a contract regarding warehousing and logistics. When he turned around, he saw that surprise flashed through Bai Lang’s eyes. So Kang Jian narrowed his eyes at the skinny man who had come receive Bai Lang. He saw that he was wearing casual clothes and assumed he must be a low level employee. Feeling good, Kang Jian stood up even straighter and said importantly, “Ah Lang, I have a meeting to go to now. Let’s talk next time. My phone number hasn’t changed, you should know it. So I’ll wait for you call?”
After he spoke, the small manager in the suit gently called him again. Kang Jian then walked away. But he didn’t walk a few steps before turning back around to wave at Bai Lang. Bai Lang only blinked. Of course he wouldn’t make any gesture in response.
After Kang Jian was taken into the elevator and disappeared from sight, the employee in the casual clothes beside Bai Lang asked, “Is that some young master Bai knows? Should I make some kind of arrangement?”
Bai Lang smiled. “Indeed. Tell the Vice General Manager to delay things and not to take his business. In a few months his company will go under.”
The employee went still. Then he blinked his eyes and then laughed mischievously. “Is Boss Qiu going to make trouble again? This time you should let us help too ah.”
Bai Lang didn’t agree. He patted this small employee’s shoulder. “Let’s go. These type of small matters isn’t something that needs to worry you, Chief Financial Officer.”
***
After telling Qiu Qian everything, Bai Lang’s antagonism towards Kang Jian actually faded a lot.
After telling Qiu Qian about all the problems he had faced in his past life, Bai Lang felt like he had already cleared out all of the garbage inside his heart. He could think about everything with an open mind. So even when running into Kang Jian, the coldness and antagonism that Bai Lang felt was no longer as sharp as before. He felt like the other person was just like a normal stranger. He could treat him civilly and distantly.
Of course one of the reasons for this was that Qiu Qian had long ago already placed a trap on Kang Jian’s body.
After Bai Lang had told him about what had occurred in his past life, Qiu Qian had already made plans for Kang Jian’s future.
Qiu Qian expressed that in his past life Kang Jian had caused Bai Lang to be utterly discredited and disgraced. Thus in this life he would repay him the same, no more no less.
So Qiu Qian had asked people to follow Kang Jian and very quickly discovered his weak spot.
After maintaining over two years of married life, Kang Jian seemed as though he couldn’t control his homosexual tendencies much longer. At several celebrations and parties, Kang Jian had used the excuse of being drunk to make moves on several small male stars. However Kang Jian was still in possession of his senses. He would kiss them, touch their legs and rub himself against them; however he wouldn’t forget to call Li Sha’s name from his mouth. So if any of these small stars, after being assaulted by Kang Jian, wanted to blackmail him in order to obtain some kind of benefit, he could use the excuse that he was simply drunk and mistook them for Li Sha.
Whether this was real or a lie probably could only be distinguished by the person being felt up, however slowly the rumor that Kang Jian wasn’t pleasant after getting drunk spread throughout the circle. However in the entertainment world where men and women were notorious for being loose, this wasn’t a big deal at all. Even if it spread to Li Sha or Li Min’s ears, it would only be cause for a scolding and not much else. Kang Jian was actually able to use this reputation to openly act out while pretending to be drunk.
So all the photos taken of this type of incident wouldn’t be enough to cause Kang Jian’s complete fall from grace. Based on Qiu Qian’s personality, once he struck against someone he intended to destroy them utterly, and not leave them any back paths. Thus Qiu Qian first began to cause dissonance between Kang Jian and his backing, which was primarily Li Sha and Li Min.
For Qiu Qian, this was really too easy.
When it came to Kang Jian and Li Sha, just by looking at Kang Jian’s sneaky behaviour, Qiu Qian felt sure that Kang Jian wasn’t far from actually cheating on Li Sha. And this person he cheated with would definitely be a male. Qiu Qian thus arranged for a few small-time models who were also gay and had friendly personalities to be stuffed into roles which would bring them into close contact with Kang Jian. He wanted to bring out the itch inside Kang Jian’s heart.
Ad for Kang Jian and Li Min, this would be even easier.
Even though Kang Jian was his son-in-law, in Li MIn’s eyes he still saw him as someone who was leeching off his daughter. Although he helped his career, however on many occasions Li Min still didn’t give Kang Jian any face. Especially in some formal matters when Kang Jian had wanted to follow Li Min into the entertainment business, Li Min had poured icy water on his head and asked him, what does an actor know about anything? {T/N: The word he used for actor is a derogatory one, referring to actor’s traditional low-born roots. Think in the medieval days when it was seen as a disreputable career.}
Kang Jian thus saw clearly that this old man Li MIn probably only wanted him and Li Sha to have a son. As for him, this son-in-law, he would never enter his eyes.
Under these circumstances of being looked down upon and being bullied by others, Kang Jian naturally wanted to create a business empire of his own. However within the entertainment circle he would always be suppressed by Li Min and be led around by the nose by him. He wouldn’t be able to leave his control. Thus Kang Jian had no choice but to choose a different industry. So all Qiu Qian needed to do was help push Kang Jian, this fool who was holding out his money and looking to start a company, in the path of some scam artists who were good at talking. He wasn’t scared at all that this outsider Kang Jian would be able to see through them and as expected, he completely threw his money down a black hole.
However all of the above arrangements would not affect Kang Jian’s acting career. Other than that one production where there was a drug scandal, Bai Lang expressed that he didn’t want to blacken any other productions in order to attack Kang Jian. Too many people livelihoods were tied to every single production. If it was going to do well it should do well. If it was just to step on and push down Kang Jian, Bai Lang would rather he do it using his own abilities.
Thus, other than Chaos Street, Bai Lang also asked Fang Hua if there were any other acting opportunities for him. Just by coincidence, the cooking program “Who is Hosting Dinner” that had made Bai Lang famous for the second time in his life, was right now holding auditions. All male stars that had at least passable cooking skills were invited to attend.
When he received this information, Bai Lang naturally went to Qiu Qian and said he intended to participate.
However unexpectedly, the person who protested was Qiu XiaoHai who opened his eyes wide.
“Why ah? Ah Bai why are you going to other people’s houses to cook!?”
Qiu XiaoHai knit his thick brows and spoke in a very unhappy voice.
During the days that Qiu Qian was injured, Bai lang and Qiu XiaoHai only had each other for support. Every day they would hold each other and cry. So towards Bai Lang, Qiu XiaoHai no longer simply liked him but also had developed an intense dependence on him.
Bai Lang rubbed Qiu XiaoHai’s head as the boy came and hugged him. “It’s just for TV. I’ll still come home and make food for Xiao Hai.”
Qiu XiaoHai buried his little face into Bai Lang’s stomach. He was being uncharacteristically selfish. “I don’t want ah, Ah Bai you should only cook for our family.”
Qiu Qian was also slowly nodding his head in agreement. “You should film movies. You’re still missing an award. Wasn’t last time a pity?”
Bai Lang looked at Qiu Qian in surprise. He should know what a great benefit this program had been to him in his past life.
Qiu Qian saw Bai Lang’s glance and sighed. “You already make too much supper for Er Hong. Look how fat he’s gotten.”
Bai Lang felt a bit speechless. He wanted to point out that it was just a few bowls of noodles, that’s all. Qiu XiaoHai suddenly lifted his head and begged again.
“Ah Bai please don’t go, okay?”
Even though he was being selfish he didn’t forget to be polite. However he really was acting spoiled.
Bai Lang was defenceless against him. He patted Qiu XiaoHai’s head. “Okay. I won’t go. I’ll listen to you.”
Qiu XiaoHai smiled widely. He rubbed his head against Bai Lang’s stomach again.
Qiu Qian felt lonely and also pressed close and kissed Bai Lang. “Very good.”
Bai Lang felt helpless but at the same time he didn’t feel much regret. He only thought, in this life things really were very different.