Reborn, I Became a Male God - Chapter 48

“Forget it, it’s too hard to explain over the phone. Where are you? At school? I’ll come find you directly.” Shen Ze had always been a man of action—just like that time when they were choosing a script. He was even more professional than a courier, personally delivering things late at night.

Unfortunately, Jing Ling couldn’t go along with him like he did last time. “A-Ze, I’ve got something going on here. Let’s do it tomorrow.”

At the same time, Yang Xinyao’s voice rang out. “Jing Ling, are you ready? Yunshu and I are still waiting on your decision for the itinerary!”

Her voice wasn’t particularly loud, but it was perfectly audible over the phone.

There was a suspicious silence on Shen Ze’s end for a few seconds before an outburst erupted. “Jing Ling, you’d better tell me honestly—did you get a girlfriend?!”

This time, it was Jing Ling’s turn to fall silent. His gaze unconsciously fell on Yunshu beside him. The earlier awkwardness between them had completely vanished. When their eyes met, she gave him a slight smile.

Great.

“I didn’t before, but I think I’m about to,” Jing Ling replied.

“I’d believe that if pigs could fly!” Shen Ze exploded like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, fur standing on end. “Where are you? You’d better come clean, or tomorrow I’ll hang myself at your dorm door—believe it or not!”

(A crying, screaming, and threatening routine（一哭二鬧三上吊）is a well-known Chinese idiom, originally describing a woman making a scene to get her way; here, Shen Ze jumps straight to the “hang myself” step—used humorously to describe someone being dramatically unreasonable.)

A once-gentle young man had been driven to this paranoid state. Skipping over the first two steps, he went straight for the ultimate move. Jing Ling hadn’t expected it either. But since it was his fault this time, he decided to accommodate him a little.

“A-Ze, hold on,” he said, then looked at Yunshu and Yang Xinyao. “A friend of mine is coming over. Do you mind?”

“Sure, why not? I can’t finish all this dog food by myself anyway.” Yang Xinyao curled her lip.

“It’s fine.” Yunshu shook her head.

So Jing Ling said, “Then come on over. It’s a private kitchen restaurant next to the Lakeside Hotel in the new Sheng District next to the school. The place is literally called ‘Private Kitchen.’ Just use map navigation. Call me when you’re close, and I’ll come get you.”

“…Alright, just you wait!” Shen Ze ground his teeth—his tone sounding more like he was coming to start a fight than discuss business.

Jing Ling could understand, though. Probably something like: “I’ve been running around like crazy for you, and now that there’s something urgent, I need permission from two ‘little vixens’ to even see you?” …What the heck kind of thinking is that!

The three of them waited at the restaurant for about forty minutes before Shen Ze arrived. During the wait, because they were bored, Yang Xinyao suggested playing Dou Dizhu, with whoever lost the most having to cover the night’s expenses.

(Dou Dizhu (斗地主) is a popular Chinese card game, often played in groups of three, involving a “landlord” vs. “peasants.” It’s highly strategic and commonly played for fun or small stakes.)

Jing Ling didn’t mind, and Yunshu had no objections either, so they asked the staff for a deck of cards.

For Jing Ling, who once trained a student of the Gambling King, Dou Dizhu was child’s play—he could win with his eyes closed. But his opponents were two girls who had traveled thousands of miles to find (and confess to) him. As the host, it wouldn’t be very nice to win.

So the entire card game was filled with theatrical twists. Jing Ling “coincidentally” drew the landlord card every time, and Yunshu and Yang Xinyao always ended up with excellent hands. Even when they got slightly worse cards, they could form unbeatable combos—straights, airplanes, rockets, and all kinds of chains to the death.

(Airplane (飞机) and rocket (王炸) are Dou Dizhu terms:

• Airplane (飞机) = sequences of triplets.
• Rocket (王炸) = the strongest combo, two jokers.)

The room was filled with Yang Xinyao’s gleeful laughter. Fortunately, the room was well soundproofed, so they didn’t get complaints from other guests. It wasn’t until Jing Ling’s phone rang that things quieted down.

“A-Ze, are you here? …Alright, 3rd floor, room 306, end of the hallway.”

Less than two minutes after hanging up, there was a knock on the door. Yang Xinyao, who was seated closer, got up to open it.

Shen Ze had expected Jing Ling to open the door, so he kept a frosty expression, ready to make it clear he had a temper too. But to his surprise, the one who opened the door was a girl with delicate features, her almond-shaped eyes slightly upturned.

He froze, then forced a smile. “Hi, I’m…” While he spoke, his gaze passed over the girl and landed on the two people behind her.

Sitting at the round table were a man and a woman. One leaned in slightly to listen, smiling softly, the other whispering with a profile as beautiful as a flower. 

The man was Jing Ling. He didn’t recognize the woman.

“Jing Ling! Didn’t you just tell me you didn’t have a girlfriend?!” Shen Ze shouted, teeth clenched. Now you’re sitting that close with a girl and you expect me to be blind?!

As soon as he said that, all three people in the room froze. Yang Xinyao, whose mind always wandered far and wide, immediately misunderstood. Her almond eyes went round as she looked at Shen Ze at the door, then turned to Jing Ling at the table. “You two…?”

Yunshu, on the other hand, didn’t have such a wild imagination. But hearing Shen Ze’s words, she instinctively followed the logic. Right… she’d nearly forgotten. Yes, she had confessed and even kissed him, and had since come to terms with liking someone being nothing to be ashamed of. But as the one being confessed to and kissed, Jing Ling hadn’t directly responded to her feelings…

Jing Ling instinctively looked at Yunshu. From her expression and eyes, he knew what she was thinking. He couldn’t help but want to cover his face and sigh. The one thing I didn’t want to happen… and here it is.

“Don’t overthink it,” he first reassured Yunshu. “You heard the phone call just now. A-Ze asked if I had a girlfriend, and I said not yet, but almost—because I’m thinking about how to confess properly so I won’t get rejected by you.”

Yang Xinyao, who’d just been force-fed more dog food: “…”

Shen Ze, who was watching his worst fear become reality in real time: “…”

“Come in and let’s talk.” Jing Ling said. After Shen Ze walked in with a face like the sky had fallen and Yang Xinyao shut the door with a huff, Jing Ling stood up to introduce everyone. He looked at the doorway. “This is my agent, Shen Ze.” Then he looked at the others. “This is Yang Xinyao.” Finally, he turned to the girl next to him. “And this is Tan Yunshu—Tan as in sandalwood—the girl I’m currently working hard to pursue.”

Yang Xinyao muttered, “A so-called friend who abuses single people at every opportunity.”

Shen Ze… took a long time to process the news. “If I may ask… Miss Tan isn’t in the entertainment industry, is she?”

Jing Ling shook his head. “She’s not.”

“I originally came to talk about other things, but clearly this takes priority.” Shen Ze pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses. “It might sound harsh, but I think it’s best to be upfront. I don’t know what your long-term plans are, but Jing Ling, if you still want a future in this industry, I sincerely advise you not to make your relationship with Miss Tan public anytime soon. This isn’t just for your sake—it’s for hers, too, because she’s not part of this world.”

This wasn’t Shen Ze being paranoid. The current state of the domestic entertainment industry was exactly like that. Whether male or female, unless a celebrity had truly made it big with notable works, revealing a relationship would usually tank their career. True, Jing Ling wasn’t walking the pretty-boy idol path, but he only had one pseudo-political historical drama to his name, and had just landed the third male lead in a major director’s new film—gaining him a batch of career-focused fans. Most of them, however, were still female.

After listening, Yang Xinyao suddenly recalled, “No wonder you looked familiar—you’re an actor!”

Yunshu had a similar reaction. After all, she and Yang Xinyao had only known Jing Ling for about a week. They just knew he was still in college and had never thought about the entertainment industry.

Her feelings were… unexpectedly complicated.

She pulled out her phone and searched online, easily finding Jing Ling’s Weibo, then tapped in for a look. There weren’t many posts—far fewer than she’d imagined for a celebrity’s account. A few posts with short captions and pictures that she could glance through in a moment. Then her mood grew more conflicted.

Born May 1995. Still nearly a month from turning 18…

So not long ago… she’d forcibly kissed a minor? [wo de ma].jpg

([wo de ma].jpg is a meme-style expression of shock. “Wo de ma” literally means “my mother!” and is the equivalent of “Oh my god!” or “What the heck!” in English.)

Feeling all kinds of ways, Yunshu felt like she needed some peace. Yang Xinyao, force-fed yet more dog food, also needed a moment, so the two decided to leave.

Jing Ling wasn’t a mind reader. Though he understood Yunshu’s thoughts quite well, it didn’t occur to him that this was the issue. He assumed she was shaken by Shen Ze’s words. “Yunshu, what A-Ze said was advice from an agent’s point of view. But in the end, the choice is mine—”

Yunshu cut him off. “I’m not overthinking it. I don’t follow the entertainment industry much, but I know enough. And that’s not what I care about. Your agent came all this way because something important is going on, right? Talk business with him. Xinyao and I will head back first. We came to have fun, so we can hang out any time.”

“…Alright.” She’d made herself clear, so Jing Ling had no choice but to agree. After giving Shen Ze a nod and asking him to wait, he escorted the girls back to their hotel, then returned to discuss business.

By the time he came back, Shen Ze had calmed down. As soon as Jing Ling entered, he got straight to the point. “Sorry, I was too emotional earlier.”

Jing Ling was also at fault—this whole situation was largely due to him. How could he blame Shen Ze? He shook his head. “Don’t apologize. I didn’t handle it well. Let’s talk about something else.”

“Alright.”

So the two of them discussed how to handle the recent incident late into the night. Since Jing Ling’s schedule over the past few days was confidential, Shen Ze originally wanted him to come up with a believable cover story. But Jing Ling refused. Rather than fabricating lies to cover for himself, why not just admit he made a mistake?

That might sound idealistic, but in this industry, very few people would actually do it. Still, Shen Ze knew Jing Ling’s personality and had no choice but to compromise.

In the end, they settled on Jing Ling posting two Weibo updates. One was an apology statement, tagging the official account for Island, and pinning the post. The second was something to lighten the mood.

Jing Ling—Second Most Handsome Under the Heavens V: I grew taller! [photo]