WOYE Chapter 103

Editor: SeriesCircuit

Witch, Open Your Eyes Chapter 103

Cat Part 1

Li Sinian slept soundly, though he was frowning slightly, with the bridge of his nose resting on the pillow. Beta curved into a ball, lying on his shoulders, its belly moving with every breath. Fang Daichuan lay beside him, watching them both sleep. It was raining heavily outside, and although it was already 10 AM, the atmosphere was still gloomy. The room itself was dark and cold but the inside of the duvet was quite comfortable and warm. Plus, it was filled with Li Sinian’s scent.

——Wait, what’s that other smell? Oh, it’s Beta’s fur. Little bud, looks like you are in need of a bath. It’s a good job I’ve grown quite used to it by now isn’t it. 

Suddenly, the phone on the bedside table began to vibrate so Fang Daichuan hastily pressed the screen.

Li Sinian is a light sleeper, to the point that even the slightest movement would be able to wake him up. One time when they had just started sleeping together, Fang Daichuan turned over in the middle of the night causing Li Sinian to sit up abruptly, which almost gave Chuan’er-ge a heart attack. Later, after they had gotten used to sleeping with each other, things went a little more smoothly. Thus, as long as Li Sinian was sleeping at home and in this bed, very few things would actually disturb his sleep. Even when Beta or Fang Daichuan walked around or Fang Daichuan washed and dried his hair, he generally wouldn’t wake up again.

Fang Daichuan walked out of the bedroom and carefully closed the door before answering the phone.

“Hello?” he asked, keeping his voice low. 

“Ancestor!” Deng-ge yelled from the other end of the phone, “Hurry up and get ready! I’ll be coming to get you in half an hour! Are you ready yet?!  Oh, and how is your black cat?! Does it listen to you? Remember that it will be on a variety show today!”

Fang Daichuan held the phone between his shoulder and his cheek as he squeezed the toothpaste onto his toothbrush and promised: “I know, I know, be rest assured, Beta is a very good-natured cat.  Also, before you ask, yes, I’ve read the documents and the script. So don’t panic.” He teased; his tone becoming slightly flirty with his last sentence.  

Deng-ge was so caught off guard, by his coquettish tone, that he almost spit out his breakfast.

“Fuck off, you bastard, don’t try to use the same tricks you use to deal with your husband on me. It won’t work.  I’ll drive to your place to pick you up in half an hour and if you’re one minute late, you will have to find another way to the East Fourth Ring Studio by yourself!” Deng-ge cut off the call.

Of course, Deng-ge is just joking, since Chuan’er is no longer a lesser-known actor.

After the statement from the police, Fang Daichuan’s popularity has skyrocketed. After all, how could an overseas peacekeeping mission; a mysterious foreign mercenary force; a cruise on the high seas; an undercover agent, and finally, the Chinese police winning a huge victory, not cause a stir. The media attention this received, in turn, made it much easier for them to make a name for themselves overseas too. What a delightful and heart-warming subject! The melon-eaters* couldn’t care less about the face-slapping that had occurred because of these events*. All they cared for was the possibility of Fang Daichuan elaborating on the details. Their excitement was overwhelming and their determination immeasurable. Some of them even found out that his parents were both criminal investigators who had handled many major cases.

(T/N: This is referring to all the good will and good reputation that was lost, due to, all the speculation surrounding Chuan’er arrest. Another common phrase for this is, dragging someone’s name through the mud.   Sadly, this can and often does occur in real life. Some people will make rumours about you and, even when the truth does come to light, it is no longer relevant. As most other people would have already determined what they think of you based on this false information. Plus, the ones who started the rumours don’t care how much damage it has done to you. I already explained what a melon-eater is in chapter 90.)

(E/N: I believe this is linked to media sensationalism, in association to, status giving and deviance.  The phenomenon, where someone’s reputation becomes only one thing, in this case being seen negatively, irregardless of what they were before, is known as Master status. Links for more info: 

1. https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-herkimer-intro-to-sociology-1/chapter/reading-symbolic-interactionism-and-deviance/
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_status 

Okay I’ll stop being a nerd now) 

This plot is simply too irresistible to the melon eaters – to them this was basically a modern version of Olga Chekhova.

(T/N: Link for more info but basically, she is an actress who was once rumoured to be a real-life spy. Since Chuan’er is an actor who also, according to the police statement, helped infiltrate the cruise by being a spy, the melon eaters drew on the similarities between them.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olga_Chekhova

Director Chen made a call directly to Deng-ge‘s personal mobile phone and he scheduled an appointment with Fang Daichuan.

Director Chen is a sixth-generation director. He still has the energy of a young man and he was born in Beijing. His directing style is one that holds an appreciation and affection toward the main theme, but also allows for ingenuity when subverting one’s expectations. He particularly favours doing this with war-based films that eventually turn into a tragic-comedy*; leaving the audience unsure as to whether they should laugh or cry.

Tragicomedy Examples (softschools.com)

Fang Daichuan’s appearance is very recognisable, “a baby face with an adult body”, his baby face and masculine figure is one of his many selling points. Director Chen became quite interested and so he asked him to audition for his new film. Now his film, with a completely new script, is about a star spy and a killing game; is featuring Fang Daichuan as the lead actor.

The “fact” that one’s attitude towards another always seems to change in accordance with the latter’s social position, seems to ring true within the world of showbiz. In the past, when Fang Daichuan was not too popular, Huo Long Guo would never give him many scenes in their variety shows. However, now that Fang Daichuan is in the spotlight, everyone wants to make use of him before he stars in Director Chen’s movie.

Huo Long Guo quickly wrote another variety show just for him, and they found a first-rate actress and a senior actor in the entertainment industry to increase the show’s popularity. Fang Daichuan was positioned as the 2^nd male host, behind the senior actor and the actress.

The theme for this show was nothing too gripping. Considering his current reputation of being, not the brightest bulb in the box, they didn’t make a show that would require much brain power. This was partly due to Fang Daichuan’s pension for posting on, ‘Weibo’.  In which, he basically told all his fans to scold Beta with him.

His ‘Weibo’ has pretty much become a cat blog. So, the variety show they sent him was themed around cats too. During the run of the show, he will be travelling with his pet and all the while he will be playing the role of, ‘a silly muscular guy’, that he often presents himself as anyway. With these two aspects combined the show will surely gain plenty of fans.

“They made it seem like they are the ones giving you the big opportunity but surely it is them who are gaining the most out of this situation.” Li Sinian sneered after reading the script.

Fang Daichuan, on the other hand, was not at all bothered by this. 

He had played a real Werewolf Killing game once and he had seen so many deaths. He no longer paid much attention to this kind of calculation by narrow minded people. When he was on the island, he once said to Li Sinian that he likes filming because there are wonderful stories to be told in it. There are: brothers who will live and die with you; friends whose promises are worth one thousand in gold; a desperate villain, and a love that goes on forever. In the past, he was just a lonely modern man, living a bland life, yearning for such surging and dangerous feelings from the bottom of his heart.

(T/N: From chapter 51)

And now, now he has it.

So, as long as he can film, he is satisfied.

Half an hour later, Fang Daichuan got dressed in the clothes the stylist had specially prepared for him last night. Then he put his socks and shoes side-by-side by the sofa and scratched his hair.

Then the doorbell rang.

Fang Daichuan thought: the parking spaces in this community are limited as it is. Deng-ge is always complaining about how difficult it is to park. So why hasn’t he called me, like he usually does, to let me know he is here and that I should head down to meet him? He never takes the initiative to actually come up here to meet me, so what’s up with him today? 

What is so special about today? Fang Daichuan thought as he opened the door.

“Surprise!”* The hostess from Huo Long Guo shouted as she frantically  rushed into the room, tailed by a large group of people, carrying: cameras, radio lights and reflectors. In an instant the room was theirs and there was nothing Fang Daichuan could do to stop them.

(T/N: Surprise is in English in the raw)

“Damn it!” Fang Daichuan shouted reflexively, his expression growing ever more panicked: “Sister Tong! You, why are you here?  Aren’t you supposed to be waiting at the East Fourth Ring Studio to record?!”

(T/N: Lol, Chuan’er has now become used to swearing without using another word to censor himself, since he came back from the island.)

The hostess flipped her hair, laughing: “We lied to you! We are here on a raid. If you knew we were coming there wouldn’t be very much excitement now, would there! Come on boys! Let’s move! We all want to see what he has in his house, don’t we! “

Fang Daichuan was scared out of his wits as he stood in front of the bedroom door, wishing that he could just sink into the floor and disappear.  Oh God, what happens if they catch Li Sinian’s sleeping in our room on camera. I mean it wouldn’t matter to me, I would just come out of the closet and retire.  But Deng-ge, on the other hand, may actually murder me… 

Sister Tong seemed to sense something and her eyes suddenly lit up; she walked to the bedroom door and pushed it open after passing by him.

“Huh?” Sister Tong said in surprise.

It’s over.  Fang Daichuan thought as he covered his face and said ten thousand sorrys to Deng-ge in his heart.

“Your room is so messy!” Sister Tong smiled and patted his shoulder, “No wonder you didn’t dare to let us in!”

Fang Daichuan raised his eyebrows and looked at the room. There was no one inside, but the duvet was in a tangled mess and the windows were wide open, letting the cold autumn wind, from outside, blow in.

Being half asleep and half awake and frightened by a group of people breaking into the door, Beta had shrunk back under the duvet filled with the smell of its master, screaming its little head off.

(T/N: Yes, Sinian is hanging onto the window outside. His mercenary skills come in handy, eh?)

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