CH 168

Chapter 168: Beautiful Spring



Li Meilan and Xiao Tang looked at each other. It seems that every time filming has wrapped up, Shen Jintai’s mood always becomes low. Li Meilan thought for a while and felt that the film and television dramas he stars in were too heavy.



In he died. In he died. In he died multiple times over. While no one died in the theme was heavy and realistic.



“Brother Jin, I have good news for you,” Xiao Tang said: “ has grossed over 1.5 billion at the box office and it has successfully obtained an extension for its run.”



After a month in theaters, it still made around 10 to 20 million a day. Many major entertainment outlet predicted that the box office will eventually reach 1.9 billion and everyone was paying attention to whether it can break 2 at the end of its run.



When got popular, it led to the birth of many Korean and American dramas that tried to mimic its style. However, without the investment and scale, and without the amazing actors and their skills similar to that of the East Palace, they all failed to replicate its brilliance.



Now that had become a dark horse at the box office and had made a lot of money for Xingyun, in just this month, multiple projects for same-sex movies were announced and the relatively high-quality danmei has been robbed*.



*Clarity: basically saying mass production of danmei turned to media has now decrease the quality of the genre in generally as all these companies wanted a piece of that same-sex profit that The East Palace and When You’re Older got, so now its all about volume and not necessarily about quality.



It’s just there were limited talents suitable for making movies. It’s rare for something to have a storyline that have explosion points that could attract the market. Screenwriter Song Chenchen was currently working on a campus-themed youth comedy. While it wasn’t even completed yet, many companies were already vying to buy the copyright for it.



Speaking of which, Song Chenchen was also smart. After his novel , the second book he wrote took the route of a warm comedy. Li Meilan felt that Shen Jintai should also be like Song Chenchen and change course and take a comedy genre for his next project to lift his mood.



The main problem was that while comedies were easy to get high box office numbers, they were not easy to produce at high-quality. They will excel if they perform well but will be ridicule mercilessly if they suck. Shen Jintai wasn’t an actor who can be funny through the use of crude jokes. If he picks up a comedy, it would be something that has to match his personal temperament.



Now that had finally wrapped up, Shen Jintai still hasn’t picked out his next project yet.



“Don’t worry at the moment,” Li Meilan said: “take the opportunity to have a good rest. and haven’t been released yet so you should give us a vacation.”



Shen Jintai lay down, smiled, and said: “Ask Wang Nan and the others. Let’s have a meeting and discuss. If you guys want to go abroad, which country do you want to visit? I’ll pay for all of it, airfare, accommodations, food. Let’s start a team building event.”



Xiao Tang applauded as soon as he heard it: “Yes, yes!”



“If you have significant others, you can bring them as well,” Shen Jintai said again.



Li Meilan said: “Xiao Tang, hurry up and find one.”



Shen Jintai laughed and looked at Xiao Tang. His tone was soothing as he said: “Xiao Tang, when you find someone, be sure to show her to me. If you get married in the future, I’ll be your best man.”



When Xiao Tang heard this, he was really surprised: “Really?!”



Shen Jintai smiled, his eyes were particularly warm.



He was going to take a break, but Yan Qiuchi was still busy. There was no way for him to take a break right now since he just took over the Yan family business.



Shen Jintai went home first to have a meal with Shen Ruhai. He had taken the initiative to go home so Shen Ruhai and Liu Qi almost regarded him as some kind of distinguished guest.



“It’s a shame Qiuchi couldn’t come with you,” Liu Qi said with a smile.



“He has been very busy at work recently. I haven’t seen him for two days,” Shen Jintai said.



“I believe Fang Fengmei has returned?” Shen Ruhai said: “It’s not easy for her since her arms haven’t fully recovered yet.”



“I didn’t even know that Sister Fang was so good,” Liu Qi took off her apron, sat down: “Later, when I heard others talk about her past, I realized how strong she used to be. Now that Lao Yan is recuperating in bed, she’s there to help Qiuchi.”



Fang Fengmei was now the second-in-command of the Yan Group.



Shen Xiaomei was still at kindergarten, so she didn’t come back until later that afternoon. After Shen Jintai finished lunch, he planned to visit the Yan’s Manor and see Yan Tiefeng. This time, Shen Ruhai and Liu Qi bought a lot of things for the Yan family and they loaded them into his car. While they were loading things up, Shen Jintai suddenly saw a girl walking her dog yelling at him: “Jintai!”



After he took a closer look, he recognized that it was Lin Xu. She was his best friend, or more precisely, the best friend of the original Shen Jintai.



However, he wasn’t familiar with Lin Xu. She treated him as a sister and spoke more of “sisterhood” than even Bai Qingquan. He was very unaccustomed at that time and he didn’t have much affection for her. Since entering the group for filming, he had slowly become estranged to her. This alienation was deliberate. Lin Xu had taken the initiative to contact him a few times but later lost her enthusiasm when she found that he was lukewarm to her. Later, when exploded, he had become a top stream again and his schedule became too busy that he wasn’t able to come back for most of the year, causing their relationship to separate even further that they now gradually became strangers.



Now that he had met her again, he waved to her enthusiastically. had touched him deeply and made a great impact on him. Everyone in the world receives affection, love, and friendship from others in their lifetime, but to some it’s with a very few people. It’s best to be able to cherish this kind of feeling, whether it was superficial or not.



Lin Xu’s dog still remembered him and kept rubbing on his lap. Lin Xu grabbed it and said with a smile: “Stop it.”



Shen Jintai asked: “How are you doing?”



“I’m still the same.” Lin Xu said a little bit stiffly.



“Are you going to graduate this year?”



She had been attending university abroad, which was also one the reason why the two rarely see each other.



Lin Xu nodded and said: “I will graduate in June.”



“Are you planning to stay abroad, or return home?”



“My parents asked me to come back, so I should come back.”



Shen Jintai smiled and said: “If you have time, we should have dinner together.”



“Ok.” Lin Xu said with a smile.



It was awkward. While they said they should have dinner together, they didn’t know when that would happen or if it would even happen. His schedule was packed, and he and Lin Xu weren’t really best friends. Meeting and being able to greet each other was probably their closest state.



When all the gifts have been packed into the car, he and Lin Xu waved goodbye to each other. Lin Xu stood on the grass with her dog in her arms watching Shen Jintai hug Shen Ruhai. Shen Ruhai was obviously taken aback by his action as he didn’t expect Shen Jintai to do something like this. His body stiffened for a bit before he heard Shen Jintai say: “Dad, take care of your body. I can earn money so don’t work too hard.”



He heard Liu Qi say that Shen Ruhai was working hard to start a business again. He was a middle-aged man who was almost 50. Even if he wanted to start over, he no longer has the energy and time as he did in his youth.



Shen Ruhai didn’t speak. He only patted him on the back and sent him into his car. When the car drove away, Shen Ruhai glanced at Liu Qi with eyes that had turned red. He turned to walk home and when he got inside, changed his shoes at the entrance. He paused there for a while before wiping his eyes with his thumb.



Spring has arrived and everything was flourishing. The flowers have started blooming in this high-end community as Lin Xu led her dog home. Shen Jintai had completely changed. The Shen Jintai who used to have an awkward relationship with his family and would tell her everything had disappeared. Though there’s still some semblance of their friendship, she knew that she had lost her best friend.



—



Shen Jintai rolled down the car window and breathed in the fresh air outside. The trees on the long road were sprouting new grown leaves and the flowers were in full bloom. When the car entered the Yan’s Manor, the scenery was even more lush. The fields were covered in trees forming a dense forest and the fields were dotted with wildflowers. When he arrived at the courtyard, there were clusters of spring flowers everywhere. Yan Tiefang was walking around in the garden, assisted by a caretaker.



His recovery has been slow. He was able to get out of bed now, but he still couldn’t walk properly. When he saw the car parking in the courtyard, he paused his movements and saw Shen Jintai getting out. The sun in spring casted its light on him giving him a bright and gorgeous glow.



“Uncle Yan.”



Yan Tiefeng smiled and said: “Why are you here? Your Aunt Fang and Qiuchi are still at the company.”



“I came to see you.” Shen Jintai said with a smile. He helped Yan Tiefeng as they walked to the living room together. Yan Tiefeng sat on the sofa and watched the household staff carry things Shen Jintai had brought over in.



Yan Tiefeng said: “This Lao Shen is really the same. After receiving my gifts, he will always return it in equal.”



When he heard that Shen Jintai was at the Yan’s Manor, Yan Qiuchi came back with Fang Fengmei after leaving work. When the car entered the yard, Shen Jintai ran out to greet them. Fang Fengmei hugged Shen Jintai as soon as she got out of the car.



Yan Qiuchi got out from the other side and button up his suit: “I knew it wasn’t for me that you would run so fast for.”



Fang Fengmei had recently got her hair done, her lips were painted, and she was dressed in a professional outfit, looking extremely capable and noble. She smiled and patted Shen Jintai: “Hurry up and go hug him or he’ll get jealous.”



Shen Jintai hadn’t seen Yan Qiuchi for two days. He’s been on a business trip and had just came back today. Seeing him now, his heart was full of warmth. He walked towards Yan Qiuchi who gave him a restrained hug before letting him go. When Yan Qiuchi saw that Shen Jintai was still holding onto him, his ears turned red.



This Yan Qiuchi. When they sleep together at night, he would always whine and say how pitiful and uncomfortable he was and would even kiss his feet a few times, but when there’s outsiders around, he would act so gentlemanly, pretending to give off that abstinence aura.



“Finished?” Yan Qiuchi asked in a low voice.



Shen Jintai said: “Nn”.



Yan Qiuchi smiled.



After holding him for so long, he was finally relieved. It just so happened that after his business trip, he had a few days cleared up. It seems that there’s no need for them to go out these next few days.



While Fang Fengmei was not paying attention, he kissed the top of Shen Jintai’s head.



The author has something to say：



Spring has arrived, everything has recovered, and it is the breeding season again.



The plain and warm affection, the friendship between the old and the new in life, and the bright and warm love. Listening to this song “Loving Kindness” by Ye Kefu* while reading this chapter.



*Clarity: Can’t really find anything on this song.



Kinky Thoughts: Aww I like Lin Xu, but I can understand as well. People grow and change as they get older. When you don’t share things in common or not interested in the same thing anymore, the relationship tends to fade, unless you put in the effort to maintain it. That’s just a part of life.