Although his words were blunt, the truth behind them cut deeper than any refinement could.
The presenter froze, silence stretching painfully, his face registering sheer disbelief.
As expected, those who are shameless can conquer the world, while those without shame are doomed.
Yu Lang was unstoppable.
The room fell abruptly silent, the stillness before a storm.
Not a word was spoken, only the rapid clicking of camera shutters accompanied by piercing flashes of light, each one stabbing into Yu Lang’s eyes.
And then, a collective intake of breath, so loud it seemed capable of lifting the ceiling.
Yu Lang used the golden statuette in his hand to push aside the microphone, brows slightly furrowed, eyelids half lowered lazily. His half lidded gaze radiated undisguised disdain.
He scanned the crowd, lips parting to deliver a single insult:
“Idiot.”
And just like that, he turned away. Not a second wasted on anyone else.
Back in the backstage lounge, Yu Lang encountered an old acquaintance.
Qin Zhun, the protagonist of this world. Born tragically: his mother died in childbirth, his father perished in a construction accident, leaving him a junior high dropout orphan with no home.
Now, he was in the big city, working odd jobs while chasing his acting dreams, steadily making a name for himself through sheer effort. Eventually, he would become an award winning actor, a reigning king of the industry.
Yu Lang was but a minor hurdle in Qin Zhun’s journey.
Yu Lang glanced at the golden statuette in his hands and realized, following the story’s trajectory, that it should belong to Qin Zhun at this moment.
The moment they met, Yu Lang launched a playful attack, lifting the trophy with exaggerated effort, feigning a strained groan:
“Mr. Qin, this thing is so heavy, so heavy. Could you help me hold it for a moment?”
Qin Zhun ignored him completely, treating him like air.
He responded to greetings from everyone else yet deliberately bypassed Yu Lang entirely.
After bidding farewell to one person, Qin Zhun headed toward the backstage exit.
Yu Lang chased him.
Once they were alone in a quiet corridor, Yu Lang suddenly lunged forward.
“You dare ignore me? You think you’re clever, huh?”
He grabbed Qin Zhun by the shoulders, shoving him against the wall and followed up with a punch aimed squarely at him.
Qin Zhun sidestepped with fluid precision and grabbed Yu Lang’s wrist.
His shoulder twisted in a wide arc, forcing Yu Lang’s arm into a dangerous position on the verge of dislocation.
Yu Lang screamed in pain, begging as he twisted, “My arm! It’s breaking!” Yet stubbornly, he cursed back: “You dare hit me? I’ll call people to tear you apart!”
Qin Zhun shot back, “Call who? Your sponsor? Or your debt collector?”
“What’s it to you? Are you jealous that someone loves me?”
Qin Zhun’s gaze softened, as if regarding a particularly foolish child with reluctant care.
“I know your situation and I admire your honesty but love that is merely skin deep will never last. He only loves your beauty. Once that fades, ruin awaits you, utter, inescapable ruin.”
Qin Zhun released his grip, pushing Yu Lang away but Yu Lang came charging back in a flurry. He swung a massive fist at Qin Zhun’s face, jumping with a flying kick from a single leg for extra impact.
The next second…
Yu Lang’s hair was seized violently, as if the attacker intended to peel it from his scalp. He was yanked into the air, spinning, before being slammed into the ground.
His back hit the floor hard, the back of his head striking with a dull, echoing thud.
The world spun. Dizziness washed over him, ears ringing with a high pitched buzz.
It took a long moment for him to catch his breath, gasping, hunched over, trying to pump oxygen to his heart.
Seeing Yu Lang finally subdued, Qin Zhun began to walk away.
Yu Lang coughed up a rough breath, eyes rolled upward and started shouting again:
“How do you know I don’t enjoy this life? How do you know I don’t like being an object, being admired? I like being sponsored, I like money for just a few shakes on the bed! Who are you to lecture me? What right do you have? Your pockets don’t even hold two coins? Or is it your poor orphaned background?”
Yu Lang’s words struck harder than necessary.
Qin Zhun spun back, feet pivoting sharply and crouched before him. One hand pressed down on Yu Lang’s head, the other yanking a fistful of hair while pointing at his nose:
“Stupid and wicked, you’ll meet a miserable end!”
Yu Lang’s face contorted in pain, scalp burning red, his entire head and neck flushed and throbbing.
Pain aside, his mouth refused to relent.
He cursed Qin Zhun as an orphan with dead parents, claiming that every selfie was a family portrait, that his future care for Qin Zhun’s parents was guaranteed.
Qin Zhun’s mind buzzed in irritation. His hand shot out in a clean, unhesitant slap, no hesitation, no wasted motion.
Yu Lang’s pale face instantly blossomed with a deep red mark.
He bit down on his tongue, staring in shock at the man in front of him, eyes clouded with a thick fog of disbelief.
“You slapped my face?!”
“You deserved it!”
Yu Lang’s tongue flicked out, licking the blood along his mouth and swallowing.
He suddenly laughed, brazenly teasing, “Yes, I deserved it but your parents won’t come back because of this slap.”
Qin Zhun’s fist stiffened again, another punch followed.
Yu Lang tried to resist but realized that his small, pampered, binge eating, belt tightened, underdeveloped body could be sent flying by anyone.
Helpless, he raised both arms to shield his face, teeth clenched, silently screaming in pain, wishing for a hero to drop from the sky and rescue him.
As if on cue…
The man pressing down on him was suddenly flung backward as if struck by a car, crashing through a wall, embedding himself, body rigid, motionless. At the very least, the arm that had struck Yu Lang was surely broken.
Yu Lang’s eyes caught a pair of glossy, black leather shoes approaching silently.
Hands reached down, as if scooping the moon from the sky.
Yu Lang was lifted into the arms of Chi Jianqing.
Cradled like a child, waist pressed, hips supported, half his body held securely.
Yu Lang’s body stiffened. He gripped Chi Jianqing’s shoulders, leaning close to his ear, warning forcefully:
“Don’t kill him! This one cannot be killed!”
Chi Jianqing tilted his head in mild confusion. Yu Lang, undeterred, grabbed his ear and whispered fiercely, “I know what you want but you cannot do it!”
Chi Jianqing’s confusion deepened.
He looked at Qin Zhun, his gaze darkening, brows pressed low, eyes narrowed to the barest slits.
A violent current of intent surged in his pupils.
Qin Zhun remained embedded in the wall, a trickle of blood sliding down, obeying gravity.
Crimson spread rapidly across him, as if a reservoir behind the wall had ruptured, blood gushing forcefully outward.
Even at the edge of life and death, Chi Jianqing’s ruthlessness didn’t soften; if anything, it intensified.
Because Yu Lang continued speaking on Qin Zhun’s behalf, issuing commands, scolding Chi Jianqing.
“Chi Jianqing, are you deaf?! I said stop! If you dare kill him, everyone dies!”
Chi Jianqing’s pupils slowly shifted, settling on Yu Lang.
He didn’t understand why Qin Zhun could strike Yu Lang yet Yu Lang would still speak up for him.
This was something none of the previous mistresses had ever experienced.
Chi Jianqing’s eyelids drooped slowly, blinking sluggishly.
His eyes felt like a sealed cage, locking in the wild thrashing of his gaze, preventing them from escaping and frightening Yu Lang.
His hands pressed down on Yu Lang’s waist, nearly crushing the man in his arms.
His emotions had completely transcended jealousy.
Jealousy should be sour, sharp, a dull ache in the chest.
But now, Chi Jianqing was insane.
He felt neither pain nor ticklishness.
Because if he just killed the man in front of him, there would be no need for jealousy.
Yu Lang would still be his.
Mistress three? Mistress four? It no longer mattered.
Qin Zhun slid slowly from the wall, landing on the floor, head hanging low as if his neck were broken.
Mouth open, chest heaving violently, gasping desperately for air.
When he finally looked up, his face was soaked in crimson, eyes once white now completely bloodshot from ruptured vessels.
Chi Jianqing, holding Yu Lang, stepped toward him deliberately.
He didn’t crouch, bend or lower his head.
Only now did Yu Lang realize the terrifying height from which this man had always looked him in the eye.
“What is your relationship?”
Chi Jianqing asked Qin Zhun.
Qin Zhun spat blood, tilting his head back to look at Chi Jianqing, each breath amplified by fear.
Yu Lang quickly explained into Chi Jianqing’s ear:
“Enemies… we’re enemies.”
Chi Jianqing didn’t listen to a word he said.
To Chi Jianqing, Yu Lang’s flippant flirtations, his endless betrayals, had long destroyed any credibility he might have once had.
Chi Jianqing stepped forward.
“Why aren’t you answering? Are you afraid?”
One deliberate step forward and Qin Zhun’s voice vanished, terror paralyzing him. His eyes widened to an unnatural size, pupils dilated as if facing imminent death itself.
Even without Chi Jianqing lifting a finger, Qin Zhun was already close to being scared to death.
Yu Lang panicked, snapping his teeth toward Chi Jianqing’s ear, as if he could bite it clean off.
“I said it already! We’re enemies!”
He pressed his bruised arm across Chi Jianqing’s eyes, the one marked by fists. Then, he forced the cheek stamped with a red handprint against Chi Jianqing’s face as well.
“Not lovers. Not a couple. We didn’t have an affair, we’re fighting! We’re brawling, we’re battling!”
Chi Jianqing’s hand moved from Yu Lang’s waist to cover his mouth.
In an instant, Yu Lang fell silent, like a speaker stripped of its amplifier, the entire world around him hushed into stillness.
The heat from his breath condensed into a thin layer of moisture on Chi Jianqing’s palm. Tiny droplets seeped through the gaps between his fingers, dampening his hand, warm, ticklish and chilling all at once.
Chi Jianqing’s mood finally stabilized a little. He could summon enough calm to question Yu Lang rationally rather than violently slashing through everything in sight.
“What is your relationship with him? How many mistresses are you? Third? Fourth? Fifth? Sixth? Are you the tenth? The eleventh?”
Yu Lang, ever nonchalant, muttered casually, “Even if I dated ten, you wouldn’t have a say.”
Chi Jianqing had remembered that remark for over half a year and had spent every day obsessively searching for those ten people.
Something clicked in Chi Jianqing’s mind. His expression darkened, venomous enough to seem ready to devour anyone foolish enough to stand near.
The warmth of his skin underwent a violent transformation, now as cold and stiff as a corpse left in the grave for seven nights.
The blue and purple bruising spread, veins trembling beneath the surface like eggs buried in blood, ready to hatch into hatred and rage.
Chi Jianqing’s voice was low, chilling:
“Or… could it be that I’m the third party here? The one who intruded?”
???
If Chi Jianqing continued down this path of self reproach, Qin Zhun wouldn’t need to worry about his own life, he would need to worry about staying intact as a corpse.
Yu Lang mimicked Chi Jianqing’s gesture, trying to cover his mouth with his hand.
It was useless.
Chi Jianqing tilted his face aside and evaded him effortlessly, shooting Yu Lang a look of intense, silent grievance.
It was as if he were silently blaming him:
“Husband, you help him speak but you won’t speak for me.”
Yu Lang was powerless to stop Chi Jianqing. With his mouth sealed, he couldn’t even argue or clarify.
Fearing someone might die, he resorted to a desperate tactic: he used his tongue to lick Chi Jianqing’s palm.
Chi Jianqing froze, instantly realizing what Yu Lang was doing.
He deliberately relaxed his fingers slightly. The moment Yu Lang’s tongue licked through, the fingers snapped shut.
Yu Lang’s tiny, wriggling body was immediately trapped, going soft all at once. He collapsed limply into Chi Jianqing’s palm.
Yu Lang wrinkled his nose, brows furrowing, lips pressing down, the middle of his face scrunching into red horizontal creases across his cheeks.
He bared his teeth, biting down on the fingers holding his tongue.
Chi Jianqing’s gaze fell on Yu Lang, utterly consumed by the act of objectifying him but not in a crude way. It was pure appreciation, like admiring a treasured porcelain piece in an art gallery.
Glossy.
Delicate.
Fair skinned.
Exquisite.
Chi Jianqing wanted to reach past the transparent glass and hold it in his hands.
And he did.
He gently cupped Yu Lang’s face, massaging it in slow, circular motions.
Yu Lang finally murmured, his voice barely audible:
“Then… what about us? What’s our relationship?”
Chi Jianqing answered plainly:
“I’m your devoted, die hard fan.”
Yu Lang realized he had successfully diverted Chi Jianqing’s attention. He became even more animated, showing off his forked pink tongue, pressing it against the teeth marks in Chi Jianqing’s palm, licking in circles, tasting, savoring.
Yu Lang teased Chi Jianqing further, disputing his straightforward declaration:
“No, you’re not. You’re mine. My number one.”
Number one?
What did that mean?
Chi Jianqing’s brows furrowed. His dark pupils narrowed to pinpoint slits, head tilting slightly, reducing Yu Lang’s form into a tiny figure pressed into the black mirror of. his gaze.
“Ah…”
Chi Jianqing exhaled through his nose, understanding dawning.
“I’m the first among ten.”
✦ ✧ ✦
Cresvynia
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
The Realm accepts offerings. The translator specifically requests coffee.
☕ BUY THEM A COFFEE →
✧ (づ｡•ㅅ•｡)づ ☕ ✧
✦ thank you for reading ✦
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ChaptersChapter 1 · Dead HusbandChapter 2 · Ghost ChaseChapter 3 · I’ve been fooled againChapter 4 · I need lots and lots of loveChapter 5 · I’ll kill you!^^Chapter 6 · Haha, really!Chapter 7 · This is what it means to be love-struck.Chapter 8 · We meet again, my loveChapter 9 · The little snakeChapter 10 · I’ve been fooled againChapter 11 · The daily routine of sasaeng fans following othersChapter 12 · Inferiority complexChapter 13 · It hurtsChapter 14 · Want to go out? Sure!Chapter 15 · Damn it!Chapter 16 · My wife hitting me is a reward for meChapter 17 · Licking sweatChapter 18 · The vinegar was friedChapter 19 · What a clever tactic, Chi Jianqing!Chapter 20 · Loving me is a very painful thing.Chapter 21 · The words may be rough, but the principle is soundChapter 22 · It wasn’t just two hitsChapter 23 · Turns out I’m not 3, I’m 1!Chapter 24 · Easy To CoaxChapter 25 · Confessing loveChapter 26 · DearChapter 27 · Honey, it felt so good when you scolded me.Chapter 28 · Let’s go after tearing off the human skinChapter 29 Part 1 · Honey, I caught you!Chapter 29 Part 2 · Honey, I caught you!Chapter 30 · Little Blind CrippleChapter 31 · How could I give up? I’ve given you my heart.Chapter 32 · The gloomy CEOChapter 33 · X-harassmentChapter 34 · Little third wheelChapter 35 · I am Chi JianqingChapter 36 · I am his husband, and you are?Chapter 37 · CarChapter 38 · Broken carChapter 39 · I want to kiss youChapter 40 · Silly babyChapter 41 · Chop off hands and feetChapter 42 · Ships and DeathChapter 43 · Chi Jianqing participated in the battle royale and finally obtained a ticket to meet Yu Lang.Chapter 44 · You bastard, get out of here!Chapter 45 · Bad cats can only be forced to love.Chapter 46 · Circle the fox’s tail and rub it back and forthChapter 47 · It hurts so muchChapter 48 · The Second World EndedChapter 49 · Brainless and grumpyChapter 50 · I don’t like you anymoreChapter 51 · I haven’t thought of a title yetChapter 52 · You smell so good, let me hug you and pet youChapter 53 · A big dog bit a kitten’s muzzleChapter 54 · Captive canariesChapter 55 · Male Ghost StrikesChapter 56 · I told you to be quiet!Chapter 57 · I have decided to bestow upon you the title of my wife.Chapter 58 · We’re talking about loveChapter 59 · I really, really like you!Chapter 60 · I want to eat your noodlesChapter 61 · Don’t abandon your puppy!Chapter 62 · What a blissful ending!Chapter 63 · Extra 1Chapter 64 · Extra 2Chapter 65 · Extra 3