A huge thanks to Susan for the Ko-fis!
※※※
Ling Xi's singers club tour began effectively, despite his apprehension and his agent's expectations. Although the number of new fans on Ling Xi's Weibo had exploded, as Wu Youpeng predicted, they were all simply following the trend. Despite the fact that the singing club ticket was just $150, the number of people who were prepared to pay remained relatively low.
The first concert of the Singers Club Tour took place in G city. From the moment the tickets were distributed, it took two days for 300 tickets to be sold out. Ling Xi, however, was pleased: last year, the tickets sold out in five days.
The revenue from the singer club ticket sales was only $45000, which was barely enough to cover the venue cost. The agency covered the costs of renting equipment, inviting the band, and locating a host. However, after the show, fans would frequently purchase goods such as miniature fans, small books, small hats, and commemorative signed albums that sold for a decent price. Although the expenses and earnings would tally up to zero, making it a no-profit, no-loss event, it gained fame for Ling Xi.
For a 12th tier little singer like Ling Xi, the importance of the singing club was in communicating with fans and reminding everyone, "I am still creating. I have not given up." Ling Xi used to come to the stage with a sense of shame when he toured every year. He was aware that he had accomplished nothing in the previous eight years. The more songs he wrote, the smaller the venue became.
But this year, because An Ruifeng's words calmed him, he let go of the small burden in his heart. He was full of energy as he prepared to take the stage, and stated with a smile to Wu Youpeng, "I think I can pump up the audience."
Wu Youpeng gave him a skeptical look: "What type of panacea did you take today? Why don’t you seem nervous at all?"
"It's a secret," Ling Xi said, shaking his head.
"Forget about it. Whatever your secrets are, I'm merely concerned that you'll mention An Ruifeng's name."
"......" Ling Xi's neck shriveled like a turtle's, unable to look Wu Youpeng in the eyes. He raced onto the stage, holding the guitar in his arms.
Because the concert venue was a club, the mood was relaxed. The Singers Club Brokerage Company in G city, rented a two-story little pub. The venue was emptied with only a few scattered seats booked in the final row. Fans had gathered in front of the stage, and when Ling Xi took the stage, they cheered and waved to him. Ling Xi had no stage fright, and he felt quite happy looking at the familiar and unfamiliar faces in the audience..
He freely made small conversation with everyone and sang a couple of title tracks from his albums. The majority of his songs were soft and beautiful little love ballads with a touch of the melancholy that young people are prone to. His fans couldn't help but hum along with him when he sang.
After singing the title tracks, he chose a few less-famous songs that he really enjoyed and performed them slowly for more than an hour. He was a bit fatigued, so he took a break and talked to everyone.
The most popular form of interaction was the free chat session, which quickly evolved into a talk show with the audience acting as the host and Ling Xi answering their questions.
Fan A enquired: I heard you've started acting in TV shows recently; will you stop singing in the future?
Ling Xi shook his head, saying: I’m a singer. I’ll be singing tunes for the rest of my life.
Fan B asked: I think your promo photos are very cute. Do you believe it’s difficult to act on TV, or to sing?
Ling Xi pondered for a moment: It's difficult to say. I have no experience acting in TV dramas, and I'm worried that I won't be able to do well and that the director will be disappointed. I'm scared that if I sing, I won't do a decent job and you'll be disappointed.
Fan C wanted to gossip: Hey! Tell us about your friendships!
Ling Xi responded: What kind of friendships are you asking about? If it's an ordinary friend, I’ve lately met a close friend.
The fan inquired further: What about special friends?
Ling Xi: Special friends… … still zero.
This reply was somewhat ambiguous. Ling Xi meant "love life is still a blank", but it could also be interpreted as "the zero in love life[1]". Ling Xi was a silly little fool who didn't realize that what he was saying was odd, but the fans below the stage had already snickered.
They couldn't bear to bully him any more, and after laughing at him for a while, they settled down and listened to him sing gently once more. Ling Xi did not sing his own songs this time, but rather the songs he wrote for others. Ling Xi's melodies were soft and very popular with female singers. Majority of the songs were about love and passion, with themes ranging from selfless love to breaking up, cheating, and meeting the wrong person at the wrong moment.
Ling Xi sang five songs in a succession. Some of the words pierced a female fan in the front row in the heart, causing her to cry out with a “wahhh” as she burst into tears. Ling Xi had performed in a number of clubs over the years. He'd seen people proposing and kissing, but he'd never seen anyone cry. He was flustered and unsure what to do. He was lost on stage for a time before immediately putting down the guitar, jumping down the stage, and hugging the female fan.
When holding a female fan, Ling Xi was always careful not to embrace or touch her waist or chest. He simply held her shoulders, displaying a gentlemanly posture, but even from this distance, he could smell the wine on her body.
The female fan's eyes were red and swollen, and she asked him hoarsely: "You have written so many lovelorn songs, have you been dumped multiple times?"
Ling Xi was embarrassed: "Did the creators of detective fiction kill people ah?!"
The female fan launched into a drunken rant: "Go and have a relationship, okay? After that you are not allowed to write lovelorn songs ever again!" She puked all over Ling Xi before she could finish her speech. Wu Youpeng was shocked and hurriedly asked someone to assist her off the stage before leading Ling Xi backstage to clean off and change clothing.
Fortunately, they had two stage costumes ready. Ling Xi cleaned up at the fastest speed and returned to the stage to complete his performance. But he was irritated in his heart and couldn’t comprehend how a good and proper singer like him could be subjected to such a bizarre occurrence.
Ling Xi washed up and lay on the hotel room's king-sized bed after the concert. He tossed and turned in bed for a long time, then closed his eyes and counted sheep for a while before finally realizing why he couldn't sleep peacefully that night—he hadn’t received a call from An Ruifeng.
They typically talked on the phone around ten o'clock at night, but tonight it was past eleven o'clock at the end of the concert. He finished removing his make-up and cleaning up before returning to the hotel which took a long time. Given An Ruifeng’s hectic schedule, he must have slept off a long time ago.
… …But he should’ve phoned anyway!
Ling Xi took the phone and flipped it around multiple times, but the red "1 missed call" indication did not appear in the call log at all.
He flung the phone on the bedside in rage, activated flight mode angrily, thought about it and was worried of delays, and returned it to vibration mode.
Three seconds after he put down the phone, An Ruifeng called unexpectedly.
Ling Xi answered the phone, and the first statement was a seemingly angry but sympathetic question: "It's so late, why are you still up?" He was well aware of how difficult filming was. Everyone assumed that actors minted money, yet they frequently awoke around one o'clock in the morning to begin filming at four or five o'clock in the morning.
An Ruifeng explained in a coaxing manner: "Isn't it because it was time to call you?"
"It would have been fine to call tomorrow ah! You can't stay up so late." ...Heh! Who was upset about not getting a call not even a minute ago?
"This is your first concert since we met. As a good friend, I feel obligated to send my greetings." An Ruifeng pulled out a big banner.[2]
Ling Xi reluctantly accepted his explanation and urged him to go to bed.
How could An Ruifeng be willing? He worked 18 out of the 24 hours a day. His only joy was talking to Ling Xi for a few minutes before going to bed every night. They were so far apart that they could only rely on technology to express their feelings. But he didn’t think it was enough. He’d only recently recognized he had a crush on Ling Xi. If it were not for work, he would really wish to be joined at the hip with Ling Xi at all times.
"I'm not sleepy yet. Tell me a little bit about the club." He spoke softly. He knew that Ling Xi was the one who liked him the most. Ling Xi was soft-hearted and had a soft spot for himself (albeit he didn't realize it). Ling Xi never declined a request made by An Ruifeng.
"I don’t know what to say about the concert..." Ling Xi felt awkward. He picked up some trivia before and after the performance and told An Ruifeng about it. His voice was full of grievances when he talked about the drunk female fan who threw up all over him that night.
Ling Xi then grumbled about the female fan’s demand: "I’ve never been in love and still managed to produce such beautiful songs. I'm afraid that if I fall in love, these single dogs will commit suicide simply by listening to my music."
An Ruifeng’s end was deafeningly silent.
"Are you asleep?"
"No," An Ruifeng said: "...Are you going to fall in love?"
"No way!" Ling Xi coughed, feeling an inexplicable sense of shame in discussing this issue with An Ruifeng. His eyes wandered about the room, gazing at the ceiling for a while, and staring at the TV, before becoming steady again.
"So when are you going to fall in love?" An Ruifeng was unwilling to let go and pursued relentlessly.
"Just..." Ling Xi whispered: "When I meet the right person."
An Ruifeng’s attempt to hide his smile was a total failure: "The right person? Then who do you regard as the “right” person?"
Ling Xi counted with his fingers: "Must be good-looking."
"En." An Ruifeng believed he was really good-looking.
"Good personality, gentle, and caring about me."
"En." An Ruifeng awarded himself a full one hundred points.
"It's best to be from this circle. We can work hard together in the future."
"En." No problem.
"I don’t care about things like height, age, and family background."
"En."
Ling Xi stared at Little Xi who was wrapped in a triangle white cloth between his legs, and recalling the "sigh" incident a few days ago. He hurriedly averted his gaze away. He wanted to cover it up and added a condition: "The most important thing is to have a large chest[3]."
This time, there was no response from An Ruifeng.
There was a long silence on both ends of the phone.
Just when Ling Xi thought An Ruifeng was asleep and was about to hang up the phone, An Ruifeng spoke up again, and the topic shifted in a completely different direction: "When will your tour arrive in S city?"
He interrupted Ling Xi, who forgot about the previous topic of dating. He began counting down the days with zeal: "Let’s see. Next up is X city, then C city, followed by S city. According to my calculations... It should be in nine days."
"That’s good. I’ll see you in nine days." An Ruifeng replied. "Don't forget that you promised to reserve a VIP seat for me."
After the two said goodnight to each other and hung up the phone, An Ruifeng, who was in the faraway S city, lifted the quilt, stood up and went to the bathroom. He had just showered and was dressed in loose cotton pajamas.
The hotel’s bathroom was very spacious with a large one-person-high mirror mounted on the wall. He stood in front of the mirror, scrutinizing his appearance. As a result of his food discipline during the last few months, he shed a lot of weight, lost a lot of muscles, and became slim and tall overall. Once the filming was through, he would gradually resume his regular diet, regain his fitness, reshape his body, and exercise his muscles.
While staring in the mirror, he slowly unbuttoned the buttons on his shirt one by one. The loose pajamas slid away, revealing his nude upper torso in the mirror.
He reached out and touched himself in the mirror, making up his mind in private.
… The most important thing was to exercise the pectoral muscles first, right?
Footnotes:
[1] I don’t think I need to explain this( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°). Gong=seme=1. Shou=uke=0.
[2] A metaphor. To use a reasonable excuse to whitewash oneself. In this case, hide behind an excuse.
[3] Ling Xi uses the word “xiōng” which can mean “chest; bosom; heart; mind; thorax” depending on the context. Yup! It can also mean big b**bs. In this entire conversation, there is no he/she/it used to describe the person. So no cliché confusion due to gender neutral pronouns. In short, Ling Xi says "The person must have big b**bs"; An Ruifeng interprets it as "The person must have a muscular chest".
A huge thanks to Susan for the Ko-fis!
※※※
Ling Xi's singers club tour began effectively, despite his apprehension and his agent's expectations. Although the number of new fans on Ling Xi's Weibo had exploded, as Wu Youpeng predicted, they were all simply following the trend. Despite the fact that the singing club ticket was just $150, the number of people who were prepared to pay remained relatively low.
The first concert of the Singers Club Tour took place in G city. From the moment the tickets were distributed, it took two days for 300 tickets to be sold out. Ling Xi, however, was pleased: last year, the tickets sold out in five days.
The revenue from the singer club ticket sales was only $45000, which was barely enough to cover the venue cost. The agency covered the costs of renting equipment, inviting the band, and locating a host. However, after the show, fans would frequently purchase goods such as miniature fans, small books, small hats, and commemorative signed albums that sold for a decent price. Although the expenses and earnings would tally up to zero, making it a no-profit, no-loss event, it gained fame for Ling Xi.
For a 12th tier little singer like Ling Xi, the importance of the singing club was in communicating with fans and reminding everyone, "I am still creating. I have not given up." Ling Xi used to come to the stage with a sense of shame when he toured every year. He was aware that he had accomplished nothing in the previous eight years. The more songs he wrote, the smaller the venue became.
But this year, because An Ruifeng's words calmed him, he let go of the small burden in his heart. He was full of energy as he prepared to take the stage, and stated with a smile to Wu Youpeng, "I think I can pump up the audience."
Wu Youpeng gave him a skeptical look: "What type of panacea did you take today? Why don’t you seem nervous at all?"
"It's a secret," Ling Xi said, shaking his head.
"Forget about it. Whatever your secrets are, I'm merely concerned that you'll mention An Ruifeng's name."
"......" Ling Xi's neck shriveled like a turtle's, unable to look Wu Youpeng in the eyes. He raced onto the stage, holding the guitar in his arms.
Because the concert venue was a club, the mood was relaxed. The Singers Club Brokerage Company in G city, rented a two-story little pub. The venue was emptied with only a few scattered seats booked in the final row. Fans had gathered in front of the stage, and when Ling Xi took the stage, they cheered and waved to him. Ling Xi had no stage fright, and he felt quite happy looking at the familiar and unfamiliar faces in the audience..
He freely made small conversation with everyone and sang a couple of title tracks from his albums. The majority of his songs were soft and beautiful little love ballads with a touch of the melancholy that young people are prone to. His fans couldn't help but hum along with him when he sang.
After singing the title tracks, he chose a few less-famous songs that he really enjoyed and performed them slowly for more than an hour. He was a bit fatigued, so he took a break and talked to everyone.
The most popular form of interaction was the free chat session, which quickly evolved into a talk show with the audience acting as the host and Ling Xi answering their questions.
Fan A enquired: I heard you've started acting in TV shows recently; will you stop singing in the future?
Ling Xi shook his head, saying: I’m a singer. I’ll be singing tunes for the rest of my life.
Fan B asked: I think your promo photos are very cute. Do you believe it’s difficult to act on TV, or to sing?
Ling Xi pondered for a moment: It's difficult to say. I have no experience acting in TV dramas, and I'm worried that I won't be able to do well and that the director will be disappointed. I'm scared that if I sing, I won't do a decent job and you'll be disappointed.
Fan C wanted to gossip: Hey! Tell us about your friendships!
Ling Xi responded: What kind of friendships are you asking about? If it's an ordinary friend, I’ve lately met a close friend.
The fan inquired further: What about special friends?
Ling Xi: Special friends… … still zero.
This reply was somewhat ambiguous. Ling Xi meant "love life is still a blank", but it could also be interpreted as "the zero in love life[1]". Ling Xi was a silly little fool who didn't realize that what he was saying was odd, but the fans below the stage had already snickered.
They couldn't bear to bully him any more, and after laughing at him for a while, they settled down and listened to him sing gently once more. Ling Xi did not sing his own songs this time, but rather the songs he wrote for others. Ling Xi's melodies were soft and very popular with female singers. Majority of the songs were about love and passion, with themes ranging from selfless love to breaking up, cheating, and meeting the wrong person at the wrong moment.
Ling Xi sang five songs in a succession. Some of the words pierced a female fan in the front row in the heart, causing her to cry out with a “wahhh” as she burst into tears. Ling Xi had performed in a number of clubs over the years. He'd seen people proposing and kissing, but he'd never seen anyone cry. He was flustered and unsure what to do. He was lost on stage for a time before immediately putting down the guitar, jumping down the stage, and hugging the female fan.
When holding a female fan, Ling Xi was always careful not to embrace or touch her waist or chest. He simply held her shoulders, displaying a gentlemanly posture, but even from this distance, he could smell the wine on her body.
The female fan's eyes were red and swollen, and she asked him hoarsely: "You have written so many lovelorn songs, have you been dumped multiple times?"
Ling Xi was embarrassed: "Did the creators of detective fiction kill people ah?!"
The female fan launched into a drunken rant: "Go and have a relationship, okay? After that you are not allowed to write lovelorn songs ever again!" She puked all over Ling Xi before she could finish her speech. Wu Youpeng was shocked and hurriedly asked someone to assist her off the stage before leading Ling Xi backstage to clean off and change clothing.
Fortunately, they had two stage costumes ready. Ling Xi cleaned up at the fastest speed and returned to the stage to complete his performance. But he was irritated in his heart and couldn’t comprehend how a good and proper singer like him could be subjected to such a bizarre occurrence.
Ling Xi washed up and lay on the hotel room's king-sized bed after the concert. He tossed and turned in bed for a long time, then closed his eyes and counted sheep for a while before finally realizing why he couldn't sleep peacefully that night—he hadn’t received a call from An Ruifeng.
They typically talked on the phone around ten o'clock at night, but tonight it was past eleven o'clock at the end of the concert. He finished removing his make-up and cleaning up before returning to the hotel which took a long time. Given An Ruifeng’s hectic schedule, he must have slept off a long time ago.
… …But he should’ve phoned anyway!
Ling Xi took the phone and flipped it around multiple times, but the red "1 missed call" indication did not appear in the call log at all.
He flung the phone on the bedside in rage, activated flight mode angrily, thought about it and was worried of delays, and returned it to vibration mode.
Three seconds after he put down the phone, An Ruifeng called unexpectedly.
Ling Xi answered the phone, and the first statement was a seemingly angry but sympathetic question: "It's so late, why are you still up?" He was well aware of how difficult filming was. Everyone assumed that actors minted money, yet they frequently awoke around one o'clock in the morning to begin filming at four or five o'clock in the morning.
An Ruifeng explained in a coaxing manner: "Isn't it because it was time to call you?"
"It would have been fine to call tomorrow ah! You can't stay up so late." ...Heh! Who was upset about not getting a call not even a minute ago?
"This is your first concert since we met. As a good friend, I feel obligated to send my greetings." An Ruifeng pulled out a big banner.[2]
Ling Xi reluctantly accepted his explanation and urged him to go to bed.
How could An Ruifeng be willing? He worked 18 out of the 24 hours a day. His only joy was talking to Ling Xi for a few minutes before going to bed every night. They were so far apart that they could only rely on technology to express their feelings. But he didn’t think it was enough. He’d only recently recognized he had a crush on Ling Xi. If it were not for work, he would really wish to be joined at the hip with Ling Xi at all times.
"I'm not sleepy yet. Tell me a little bit about the club." He spoke softly. He knew that Ling Xi was the one who liked him the most. Ling Xi was soft-hearted and had a soft spot for himself (albeit he didn't realize it). Ling Xi never declined a request made by An Ruifeng.
"I don’t know what to say about the concert..." Ling Xi felt awkward. He picked up some trivia before and after the performance and told An Ruifeng about it. His voice was full of grievances when he talked about the drunk female fan who threw up all over him that night.
Ling Xi then grumbled about the female fan’s demand: "I’ve never been in love and still managed to produce such beautiful songs. I'm afraid that if I fall in love, these single dogs will commit suicide simply by listening to my music."
An Ruifeng’s end was deafeningly silent.
"Are you asleep?"
"No," An Ruifeng said: "...Are you going to fall in love?"
"No way!" Ling Xi coughed, feeling an inexplicable sense of shame in discussing this issue with An Ruifeng. His eyes wandered about the room, gazing at the ceiling for a while, and staring at the TV, before becoming steady again.
"So when are you going to fall in love?" An Ruifeng was unwilling to let go and pursued relentlessly.
"Just..." Ling Xi whispered: "When I meet the right person."
An Ruifeng’s attempt to hide his smile was a total failure: "The right person? Then who do you regard as the “right” person?"
Ling Xi counted with his fingers: "Must be good-looking."
"En." An Ruifeng believed he was really good-looking.
"Good personality, gentle, and caring about me."
"En." An Ruifeng awarded himself a full one hundred points.
"It's best to be from this circle. We can work hard together in the future."
"En." No problem.
"I don’t care about things like height, age, and family background."
"En."
Ling Xi stared at Little Xi who was wrapped in a triangle white cloth between his legs, and recalling the "sigh" incident a few days ago. He hurriedly averted his gaze away. He wanted to cover it up and added a condition: "The most important thing is to have a large chest[3]."
This time, there was no response from An Ruifeng.
There was a long silence on both ends of the phone.
Just when Ling Xi thought An Ruifeng was asleep and was about to hang up the phone, An Ruifeng spoke up again, and the topic shifted in a completely different direction: "When will your tour arrive in S city?"
He interrupted Ling Xi, who forgot about the previous topic of dating. He began counting down the days with zeal: "Let’s see. Next up is X city, then C city, followed by S city. According to my calculations... It should be in nine days."
"That’s good. I’ll see you in nine days." An Ruifeng replied. "Don't forget that you promised to reserve a VIP seat for me."
After the two said goodnight to each other and hung up the phone, An Ruifeng, who was in the faraway S city, lifted the quilt, stood up and went to the bathroom. He had just showered and was dressed in loose cotton pajamas.
The hotel’s bathroom was very spacious with a large one-person-high mirror mounted on the wall. He stood in front of the mirror, scrutinizing his appearance. As a result of his food discipline during the last few months, he shed a lot of weight, lost a lot of muscles, and became slim and tall overall. Once the filming was through, he would gradually resume his regular diet, regain his fitness, reshape his body, and exercise his muscles.
While staring in the mirror, he slowly unbuttoned the buttons on his shirt one by one. The loose pajamas slid away, revealing his nude upper torso in the mirror.
He reached out and touched himself in the mirror, making up his mind in private.
… The most important thing was to exercise the pectoral muscles first, right?
Footnotes:
[1] I don’t think I need to explain this( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°). Gong=seme=1. Shou=uke=0.
[2] A metaphor. To use a reasonable excuse to whitewash oneself. In this case, hide behind an excuse.
[3] Ling Xi uses the word “xiōng” which can mean “chest; bosom; heart; mind; thorax” depending on the context. Yup! It can also mean big b**bs. In this entire conversation, there is no he/she/it used to describe the person. So no cliché confusion due to gender neutral pronouns. In short, Ling Xi says "The person must have big b**bs"; An Ruifeng interprets it as "The person must have a muscular chest".
