PTS Chapter18

TL: Hua

Chapter 18

On Sunday morning, Shen Qianci began his reading schedule, rain or shine. Qin Guanyu was quite generous, giving him special permission to freely use the overbearing CEO’s study.

Just as he was about to use a pencil to jot down some notes next to a paragraph, he saw Qin Guanyu walk in wearing a tracksuit.

After living together for a few days, he had found that this CEO’s daily routine was quite disciplined. He didn’t have a habit of staying up late, and he would wake up promptly at 7:00 AM every morning to go work out.

With his well-defined fingers resting on the desktop, a shadow cast over him from above. Shen Qianci raised his eyes in confusion, meeting Qin Guanyu’s gaze.

“You’re coming to work out with me today.”

Qin Guanyu closed the book in his hands as he finished speaking, looking rare and commanding like an actual overbearing CEO.

“Not going.” Shen Qianci lowered his head and reopened the book.

“Go.” Qin Guanyu closed it again, placing his palm flat over the cover. “Look at how thin and pale you are. You don’t get much exercise or sunlight, do you? This won’t do, Teacher Shen. You’re going to become more and more fragile.”

“I have to teach classes three days a week this semester, standing from the beginning of class until the end. That barely qualifies as exercise, doesn’t it? After class, I still have to read my students’ theses and grade their reading notes.”

Shen Qianci slid a finger underneath his palm to pry it off. “Whether it’s physical challenges or mental challenges, I’ve got them all covered. Now please just let me properly enjoy the beautiful moments of a weekend morning, okay?”

Seeing that Qin Guanyu still intended to extend a warm invitation, Shen Qianci said, “My lower back isn’t in great shape.”

“Speaking of which, I find it strange.” Qin Guanyu let out a sharp breath. “You’re so young; how is your back already in bad shape?”

“I suffered a bit of an injury during my very first job.”

“Is it very serious?” Qin Guanyu frowned and circumvented the desk to stand beside him. “Your first job was also being a teacher? Is being a teacher such a high-risk occupation these days?”

“It wasn’t a teacher.” Shen Qianci didn’t want to discuss the topic and let out a sigh. “It’s fine. It just gets sore and achy when the seasons change. I won’t go to the gym with you. With a bad back, there aren’t many machines I can actually use anyway.”

Qin Guanyu’s gaze remained glued to his waist, only shifting away after quite a while. He pouted rather regretfully. “Alright then.”

At the very end, he just couldn’t resist a cheeky remark: “True… what if your back suddenly gave out, and your body wobbled, making you bump your head and get amnesia, and then you insisted on taking me for your husband?”

Shen Qianci: “…”

—

By the time Sun Guanqing and Lu Tiangong arrived at Yunjing Villa carrying snacks and fruit, it was already nearing lunchtime.

Even though they had prepared themselves mentally, seeing Shen Qianci open the door still gave them a very peculiar feeling…

It felt something like… our boy has finally grown up? The pig from their own house had actually learned how to court a prize cabbage when they weren’t looking!

Lu Tiangong poked his head in. “Teacher Shen, where is he?”

“Over in the central kitchen.” Shen Qianci pointed his finger. “Said he’s braising some duck items for you guys.”

“Holy crap!” Sun Guanqing’s eyes turned misty. “Is this what a family man looks like? When the two of us used to visit, he never showed this house-husband side of himself, let alone cooking personally…”

Sun Guanqing grabbed a drink from the fridge with practiced familiarity. Turning around, he saw the white cat from Qin Guanyu’s video conference jump down from the cat tree, padding over to a bowl to take small sips of water.

He squatted down, intending to stroke the cat. Who would have thought that the moment his eyes landed on that bowl, the familiar pattern would make his vision go black over and over again…

Qin Guanyu was actually using a tea bowl from the Qianlong era to hold water for a cat!!!

This was a total waste of a treasure! Incomprehensible! Out of his mind!

He stormed into the kitchen aggressively. Before he could even open his mouth to criticize, he saw Little President Qin gazing affectionately at those two pots of braised duck.

“Why are you braising so much?” Sun Guanqing’s anger suddenly cooled down a bit. “To let Old Lu and me take home as snacks?”

He said awkwardly, “Hey, how could we accept this!”

“How about you schedule an appointment with neurology?” Qin Guanyu said dismissively. “This five-spice pot is specifically for Teacher Shen. He can’t eat spicy food, otherwise his stomach will hurt.”

Lu Tiangong, who had followed closely behind, happened to catch their dialogue. He opened his mouth but stopped himself.

The two guests instantly fell into silence.

After a long while, Lu Tiangong still felt compelled to say, “Don’t you think you’re a bit overly immersed in this substitute role-play game, to the point where you don’t even know what’s what anymore?”

“You’re done for, Old Qin.” Sun Guanqing looked deeply concerned. “Looks like you’re truly hooked. Once you get hooked on a substitute, your whole life is compromised!”

“Holy crap, is there something wrong with you two?” Qin Guanyu brandished his ladle. “I’m just braising ducks in a pot, not turning into one myself!”

“I know you haven’t turned into one,” Lu Tiangong said with his arms crossed. “You’re just playing the husband for someone else!”

Sun Guanqing chimed in sourly, “Exactly. You’ve even started raising a child together, and the bowl the cat uses for water is an antique from the Qianlong era!”

Qin Guanyu couldn’t be bothered to deal with them and pushed the two of them out in one go.

During the hotpot meal, Sun Guanqing looked at the three bubbling broth bases and then at Qin Guanyu, who scooped a large ladle of fatty beef out of the tomato broth and placed it into Shen Qianci’s bowl. For some reason, he suddenly felt a bit lonely and miserable.

Ever since becoming the marketing director of Qing Nong, he had never dated anyone, had no wife, and had no cat…

He originally had Qin Guanyu, a fellow “moon-gazing master,” for company. Who would have thought that after just one week, his brother would not only have a wife but a cat too!

He couldn’t help but gossip, “Did you two go somewhere fun yesterday?”

Qin Guanyu replied, “We attended a Hongmen banquet¹TL note: The Hongmen Banquet (鸿门宴 – Hóngmén Yàn), also known as the Feast at Hong Gate, is one of the most famous historical events in Chinese history. It took place in 206 BC during the chaotic collapse of the Qin Dynasty. hosted by my dad.”

In modern Chinese culture, the term is used as an idiom to describe a trap disguised as a peaceful invitation or a meeting with hidden, malicious intentions.

Sun Guanqing and Lu Tiangong’s hands trembled, nearly dropping their chopsticks into the pot.

They turned to look at Qin Guanyu in unison, their eyes flashing with a hint of admiration, though internally they were likely cursing up a storm.

“You two have only known each other for a week…” Lu Tiangong was thoroughly shaken. “And you already went to raid your stepmother’s dungeon…”

Shen Qianci found it strange and asked Qin Guanyu, “Why does everyone turn pale at the mere mention of your stepmother?”

Lu Tiangong explained, “Teacher Shen, you don’t know, but this Madam Bai is incredibly troublesome. The three of us studied abroad together back then. To prevent Old Qin from using his dad’s money, Bai Qingqing actually hired Sun Guanqing and me to monitor his spending habits and give weekly reports.”

“…” Shen Qianci was shocked as well, thinking to himself: So you two were the actual overseers.

“And then? Did you two report him?”

“Of course we reported him! You’d be an idiot not to take free money!” Lu Tiangong said. “We turned around and gave the money to Old Qin, and then the three of us split it. We got a free allowance for doing nothing.”

Shen Qianci thought to himself that these guys were true friends, having successfully stood the test of both organization and money.

“Then how did you report back to Bai Qingqing?”

Sun Guanqing puffed out his chest proudly. “Are you kidding? We were business majors! Whipping up a flashy PPT to fool her was a total piece of cake.”

Speaking of the past, Lu Tiangong couldn’t help but sigh again. “Back then, Old Qin’s dad and stepmother were ruthless enough. Old Qin said writing them an IOU wouldn’t even work. In the end, to successfully attend school, our Little President Qin even had to sell his looks.”

“His looks?”

Shen Qianci remembered Qin Guanyu mentioning this briefly before but refusing to elaborate. Curiosity was gnawing at his heart like crazy.

Sure enough, the tips of Qin Guanyu’s ears turned red again, and he said urgently, “Hey, hey, hey! Just eat!”

“Gosh, what are you blushing for?” Sun Guanqing said. “Not only did you earn money, but your 20-year-old self got recorded on the silver screen. It was totally worth it!”

Shen Qianci keenly caught the words “silver screen.” Looking at Qin Guanyu, he asked in shock, “You went to act in a movie???”

Sun Guanqing explained to him excitedly, “He shot a campus film. The director was actually quite famous and happened to be scouting locations at our high school alma mater. The actor for the fourth male lead had just walked out on them, and the director was stressing over finding a replacement. Who would have thought he’d see the photo of our top graduate on the school’s wall of honor? He took one look at Old Qin, called the principal, and begged him to find Old Qin to play the fourth lead.”

Qin Guanyu’s face flushed bright red. He snapped at Sun Guanqing in dissatisfaction, “Can’t you keep your voice down???”

Sun Guanqing found it bizarre. “What’s the big deal? It’s not like it’s something shameful.”

Qin Guanyu found it even more bizarre than he did. “As an overbearing CEO, instead of casually waving my hand to invest in a drama, I had to poison the audience’s eyes with my completely unskilled acting just to earn tuition money. Is that supposed to be honorable???”

“Oh my god! Your sense of morality is being applied to the completely wrong place!”

Lu Tiangong was speechless. “Of the famous traffic stars nowadays, how many of them actually have acting skills that aren’t poisoning the audience’s eyes? They aren’t even as handsome as you. I swear you’re truly baffling. Why are you blindly feeling insecure about something you shouldn’t be insecure about…”

Seeing that the tips of Qin Guanyu’s ears were red enough to bleed while his eyes remained glued to the fatty beef bobbing up and down in the hotpot, Shen Qianci let out a laugh, topped up his drink, and raised his voice to remind him: “President Qin, where are my cookies?”

Qin Guanyu blanked for a moment. “You want them today?”

Shen Qianci said righteously, “Of course. I have classes all day tomorrow and need to bring them to school for afternoon tea.”

“I haven’t even prepared anything.” Qin Guanyu scanned the kitchen and the fridge, realizing there weren’t many ingredients available. “Do you want seaweed potato cookies?”

“Sure,” Shen Qianci agreed satisfactorily.

Sun Guanqing and Lu Tiangong silently exchanged a look. Before they could communicate any insights across the table, Qin Guanyu grabbed both of them by the scruffs of their fates.

“I’ll steam the potatoes first. After you two finish the hotpot, come over and help.”

By mid-afternoon, the four of them were huddled around the table pressing cookie molds.

“…” Shen Qianci felt rather strange. “I constantly feel like I’ve accidentally stumbled into a children’s channel.”

Qin Guanyu took off his gloves and turned on the TV. “Then let’s get some adult excitement. How about the legal channel?”

Who would have thought that the moment the screen turned on, it happened to be the entertainment channel, and by some stroke of luck, it was broadcasting an interview with the cast of Shu Yi’s new drama.

The room fell abruptly silent.

Sun Guanqing and Lu Tiangong looked awkwardly at Qin Guanyu. Qin Guanyu stared fixedly at the television, while Shen Qianci was also deeply invested, listening to the interview of those popular stars.

Alright, Sun Guanqing thought to himself, this really is adult excitement now.

After all, no primary school student would participate in a trendy activity like having a substitute, and then space out looking at the white moonlight on their smartwatch right in front of the substitute, right?

Right?

“The second male lead from the same cast seems to be deliberately targeting Shu Yi,” Qin Guanyu said suddenly.

Sun Guanqing and Lu Tiangong were scared half out of their wits.

No… brother! Is this the kind of topic you should be bringing up right now?

Stiff-necked, they turned their gazes back to Shen Qianci, wondering if the “substitute” would start asking the sugar daddy: “You still can’t let him go, can you?”

As the sugar daddy’s inner circle of friends, how should they perform in this melodramatic art form?

According to the general tropes in trashy substitute literature, the sugar daddy’s friends were mostly absolute idiots…

Did they have to play the role of idiots now?

Did this count as a workplace injury? Could medical insurance cover it?

Who could have guessed that the beautiful “substitute” wouldn’t play by the rules at all. Shen Qianci pointed at the second male lead Qin Guanyu had mentioned: “That one is named Yao Feng. He looks completely harmless, but he’s actually incredibly petty and deeply jealous.”

Sun Guanqing and Lu Tiangong instantly stopped worrying about whether they looked like idiots and pricked up their ears to listen to the gossip.

Lu Tiangong asked, “But isn’t Yao Feng known as a famous, easygoing, and well-behaved boy in the domestic entertainment industry?”

Shen Qianci countered, “It’s all a persona packaged by his management agency.”

Qin Guanyu asked curiously, “Teacher Shen, how do you know he’s petty?”

Shen Qianci shrugged. “He was my college roommate.”

“!!!”

The other three wore expressions of utter shock.

“Yao Feng graduated from a drama school, right? Was he your college roommate?” Qin Guanyu was greatly shocked. “You went to a theater academy for your undergraduate degree?”

“I did my master’s degree at an arts school too,” Shen Qianci said. “Otherwise, why would I be teaching theater literature?”

Sun Guanqing asked, “Then why didn’t you go into acting?”

Shen Qianci put on a look of melancholy. “Not good-looking enough.”

Qin Guanyu was more worked up than anyone, nearly knocking the cookies off the table from his sudden movement.

“You’re not good-looking enough???”

“Since you think I’m good-looking…” Shen Qianci suddenly looked deep into his eyes. “Then why do you keep staring at Shu Yi on the television?”

A faint aura of sorrow, invisible yet seemingly tangible, suddenly enveloped his form. The smile curling at the corners of his lips even carried a trace of bitterness. “You still can’t let him go, can you?”

Sun Guanqing and Lu Tiangong: “!!!”

How the hell did he manage to bring it back around to that?!!!

The two members of the sugar daddy’s inner circle were completely incoherent and flustered, wishing they could crawl out of the room right this second.

Countless substitute literature had taught them that being the sugar daddy’s friends never ended well! You either turned into an idiot or a scapegoat!

They didn’t want to be either.

“…” Qin Guanyu’s mouth twitched slightly.

He had seen this episode before. Shen Qianci had acted exactly like this when they got Steam Bun neutered!

He was speechless. “The substitute shouldn’t pry into the sugar daddy’s business…”

“!” Sun Guanqing grew alert.

Here it comes; it’s about to start.

Seeing that Lu Tiangong had already grabbed a throw pillow and shrunk into the corner, Sun Guanqing lifted his leg, preparing to slip away too. But Shen Qianci suddenly called out to him: “Brother, peel an orange for me.”

Sun Guanqing: “???”

Shen Qianci lowered his eyes. “My mouth feels bitter.”

Sun Guanqing automatically translated that to: His heart feels bitter.

Trembling, he picked up an orange from the table and lifted his hand, just about to peel it…

“He’s the same age as me; why are you calling him ‘brother’?”

Qin Guanyu looked quite displeased, snatching the orange right out of Sun Guanqing’s hand. “Do you even know how to peel it properly?”

Sun Guanqing: “…”

What did he say!

The karma of substitute literature was truly boundless! Had he just been turned into a scapegoat right then???

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  TL note: The Hongmen Banquet (鸿门宴 – Hóngmén Yàn), also known as the Feast at Hong Gate, is one of the most famous historical events in Chinese history. It took place in 206 BC during the chaotic collapse of the Qin Dynasty.