NGSB Chapter 1

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Chapter 1

Heavy curtains were drawn tightly over the windows, blocking out any hints of sunshine. The entire room was covered in a strange odor from the air lying stagnant for so long. But it was a very neat and clean room. Even the bedcovers were folded into a tofu-like square and placed precisely in the lower left hand corner of the bed right next to the edge without a millimeter out of place as if its owner had obsessive-compulsive disorder.

The hair of the youth in the room had long dried in the air. He was huddled up in front of the computer with a pale and sickly complexion. The screen flickered against the face with the looks to rival David but for the hint of ferocity in those brows. There was an eye-jarring article on the computer screen in bright red text: “Famous Artist Qi Wenyuan Dies from Fall Off Building this Afternoon.” The subtitles were even more eye-catching: “Wounded or Murdered by Love? Who Will Take Responsibility for the Heavenly King’s Death?”

Whether it was Chonglang, Huli, or Qiandu,[1] every media outlet was reporting on entertainment news and Qi Wenyuan’s sudden death after his fall off a high-rise building. Even the Central News Agency, which primarily focused on healthy news, was following the story. Beautifully slender fingers as fine as jade lightly moved the mouse, while eyes as dark as obsidian skimmed over the Song typeface text on the screen. The more he read, the more those pupils constricted. Those lips, too, pursed into a thin line.

Qiandu had reported on the situation objectively by analyzing the entire situation, listing all evidence, and referring to past cases to write a detailed and professional report in one afternoon. It was clear their editor was very skilled. They first got confirmation from the judicial side that the dagger left on the roof belonged to the deceased, who’d brought it with him and left fingerprints on the handle. Moreover, the only surviving victim had three slashes on his body. There were injuries on Mr. Pan’s waist as well. Meanwhile, the deceased Qi Wenyuan had no injuries besides bruising at his waist and the fall that caused his death.

With the help of Mr. Pan’s testimony and photographs from the reporters present, Qiandu objectively deduced that the deceased, Qi Wenyuan, had changed his love to hate and plotted ot murder Mr. Pan. Thus, his actions were legitimate self defense and didn’t bear criminal responsibility. The other reports came from all sorts of different angles, but everyone greed: the death of the victim had come from self-defense, so Mr. Pan didn’t have to take any responsibility.

Reading these cold words on the screen made Qi Wenyuan’s heart sink. He had just transmigrated into this body, but his unease was now replaced with a rising storm in his pupils. The mouse in his hand creaked from his tightening grip.

That’s right. He had been furious yesterday after reading in the papers that Pan Lun was going to get married. He’d tried calling the man with no success and ended up rushing out of his house with a knife in hand. But when he saw his lover of 11 years beyond the mahogany doors, he suddenly felt that all of this was needless. Nothing had changed in that man’s face, but once he filled his vision–

–the feelings of love he’d felt for that person immediately dissolved and shattered away. In that moment, he saw his true face. The man who said they could still be together even after his marriage, was he truly his lover? He could be shameless enough to suggest such things. He was unworthy of both his love and irresponsible to his future wife.

Could it be…that I’ve misjudged him all along?

The best years of his youth from 22 to 33 years old, 11 entire years of love–had he given it all to a heartless scum?!

Just as he once loved him deeply, his heart was now plunged into ice. What happened next was simply him making reprisals. He took out a knife and saw the man’s expression twist into fear. He brought him to the roof and prepared to end their relationship right where it began. But Qi Wenyuan could vow that he never planned to kill Pan Lun between slashing him the first time and pressing him against the railings! It wasn’t worth shouldering a murder crime for a slag like him!

Pan Lun worked long hours at the office. Although he wasn’t chubby like some of the senior bosses, he wasn’t strong, either. At least, his body paled in comparison to Qi Wenyuan, who exercised regularly. Qi Wenyuan clearly remembered their final struggles on the roof had ended with him watching Pan Lun like a monkey doing tricks out of fear. That was enough to repay all those years of wasted love. But after he tossed the man to the icy ground with a sneer and turned to fetch his knife and leave forever…

Someone dragged him sharply from behind, catching him off guard and sending him flying off of the building. The world spun around him before darkness overtook his mind.

Qi Wenyuan gripped the mouse, filled with grief and indignation. Even if he went over the events himself, his actions with the knife was akin to attempted murder. Pan Lun had legitimate grounds for self-defense in this case. But they were also the only ones who knew which one of them moved first to kill the other in earnest.

Qi Wenyuan rose to his feet and headed for the bathroom. Turning on the gold and silver faucet, he splashed some water onto his face until he felt more awake. Then he lifted his wet hand to wipe the mirror clean before staring at his reflection with a complicated look. A shockingly beautiful youth stared back with dark eyes.

One finger rose to stoke the simple and elegant arch of his brows that resembled the distant silhouette of sloping mountains, delicate and pretty. Beneath that were a pair of lustrous phoenix eyes and a small, exquisite face that nevertheless looked slightly ashen. Those lips were supposed to be red, but now only a pale, wan white. Pieces of dead skin stuck to its surface. However, this face was enough to stand at the peak of the entertainment circle and its neverending crowd of beauties.

Qi Wenyuan hadn’t said such words, but the media did. Years back, the owner of this face earned the title of “Celestial Fairy” based on his looks alone. His looks even suppressed the well-known seductive beauty of Ye Yiyi[2] and somehow earned him the title of Number One Beauty in Show Business. Unfortunately, the so-called…“Celestial Fairy Lin Who Fell from Heaven” was actually someone Qi Wenyuan knew personally. Moreover…he was rather familiar. Maybe it was better to say that few people weren’t aware of “Celestial Fairy Lin.” He had just signed on with Tianyu last year but only acted in two projects. One was an ancient costume movie while the other was a modern idol drama.

In the movie, he played a character who…died twenty seconds after his first appearance. In the idol drama, he was…a human vegetable only capable of moving his eyes. On a positive note, the dead character was the connecting thread in the movie, a key figure known as the crown prince who was assassinated in the palace. Meanwhile, the human vegetable in the idol drama was the female protagonist’s most important little brother.

On a negative note, anyone who was human could play such roles. Even a block of wood could master the parts. But the roles gained him a bit of popularity all the same. Still, anyone who saw his face would think, ‘Goddamnit, why is such a handsome boy playing a dead person/human vegetable?!’

It wasn’t that Tianyu Entertainment was keeping Celestial Fairy Lin from good roles on purpose. Conversely, Pan Lun had worked extremely hard to cement those roles for the boy. Qi Wenyuan remembered how the man had complained nonstop during that time, about how the company had signed on a useless vase. At the same time, he couldn’t bear to part with Celestial Fairy Lin and his looks. Qi Wenyuan was of a similar mind back then. It could be called luck that someone with a face like this didn’t secure his own spot in the entertainment circles. Even the narcissistic, viper-tongued Ye Yiyi hadn’t done much than swallow her saliva when a certain magazine listed her as second most beautiful after this boy. She even announced publicly that she accepted her loss completely.

It was easy to imagine just how divine Celestial Fairy Lin looked.

But for a person who was born to be a celebrity, Qi Wenyuan had nearly choked to death in his body upon waking up. He was quite confused as to why Lin Xi[3] would commit suicide–and by a method as strange as drowning. Yet after coughing up a mouthful of water and staggering out of the bathroom, he spotted the walls of his bedroom covered in two words written in black marker: Pan Lun. Then he started to wonder if water had already entered Lin Xi’s brain and turned him stupid.

He never expected Pan Lun had made a move on Lin Xi too, but Qi Wenyuan was aware that Pan Lun was a promiscuous lover. The first year after they hooked up, Qi Wenyuan had caught Pan Lun in the act of adultery with one of Tianyu’s minor stars. Qi Wenyuan had been furious then and almost broke up with him. But he was still young and immature without a foothold in show business, thus making him unable to oppose Pan Lun directly. For the next ten years, Qi Wenyuan caught Pan Lun cheating on him a few more times. By then Qi Wenyuan had all but ignored it. There was no changing Pan Lun’s unfaithful ways and those were acts of mutual consent. Since he insisted on being the top for most of the time, letting Pan Lun eat his fill of meat elsewhere could count as Qi Wenyuan’s compensation to the man, too.

Now that he thought back, Qi Wenyuan realized he’d probably never loved Pan Lun very much, even from the beginning. Would true love allow their lover to go off the rails with complete indifference again and again?

This time’s betrayal was the only time he’d truly gotten angry. Perhaps Pan Lun himself had never guessed such an outcome. A lot of his previous behavior had been easily excused by running through the motions, but when it came to marriage this time…Qi Wenyuan was furious. He could imagine what Lin Xi’s expression must have been when he saw the same news, then how the boy had slowly filled up the tub with water before slowly sinking into its depths.

Some people wanted to kill when they were angry, but others…preferred to take their own lives. As luck would have it, the one who wanted to kill lost his own life, while the one who wanted suicide yielded his life to another. The water droplets on the mirror had all but dried by now. Another dripped off the ends of his hair. The divine looks of the man in the mirror gradually grew relieved before relaxing. The sight was as beautiful as a lotus flower just emerging from the waters.

Qi Wenyuan stared at his foreign reflection before breaking into a smile. Unfortunately, there was no one else there to admire it. His fingers with their pale pink nails went to pinch himself in the palm.

Lin Xi, it wasn’t worth throwing away your life for that man! Starting from today, I, Qi Wenyuan, will use your identity to live on. I’ll give you the aura and demeanor you deserve. Together, we’ll rise to the top of this cold blooded entertainment circle. We’ll see that bastard Pan Lun downtrodden and wish him an unnatural death!

Despite its cold smile, the exquisite face in the mirror revealed nothing but its beauty. The faintly mocking air was hard to see. He took a pure white washcloth off its hanger to wipe his hair dry, then tossed it in the sink before padding back to the computer table. Picking up the cell phone by his notebook, he scrolled through his contacts until he found “President Pan” and pressed call.

It was a long time before an exhausted voice picked up from the other end. “Hey, Lin Xi, right now I’m–”

“Pan Lun, I want to terminate my contract with Tianyu,” Lin Xi interrupted. His voice was clear and to the point.

There was silence on the other end before a comforting tone drifted over the phone. “Alright now, Lin Xi, don’t fuss. Be good.”

A sense of disgust welled up in Lin Xi’s heart before he finally managed to answer. Smiling coldly, he said in an expressionless tone, “Pan Lun, if you don’t want the media to know how much taxes Tianyu’s stole, then stop acting friendly with me.”

“How do you know…” There was a startled noise before the voice halted. After that, more coaxing ensued. “Lin Xi, where did you hear such hearsay? Don’t trust–”

“Pan Lun, I want to annul the contract.”

Once again, silence greeted him from the other line. It was a long time before Pan Lun finally spoke. “Alright, come by the office tomorrow.”

Lin Xi hung up, feeling the pressure on his chest ease. He raised his head to stare at the Pan Luns scribbled on the walls and clicked his tongue before making another call.

“Buy some paint and a brush and bring them here right now.”

“…what do I want to do? Paint the walls!”

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༺ Chapter Glossary ༻

[1] Chonglang, Huli, or Qiandu (冲浪，狐狸，千度) – most likely a play on names for actual Chinese website giants Sina [“Xin Lang”] (新浪), Sohu [“Sou Hu”] (搜狐), and Baidu (百度).

[2] Ye Yiyi (叶伊伊) – Ye is a surname that means “leaf,” Yi is sometimes another word for “you, he/she,” or a Classical Chinese introductory particle with no specific meaning.

[3] Lin Xi (林锡) – aka “Celestial Fairy Lin” (天仙林), the identity of the protagonist’s new body. Lin is a surname that means “forest,” Xi is “tin, grant/bestow.”