Chapter 29: Guan Yaoming
As an undercover agent, Lin Mo didn’t care at all whether he was doing well in the entertainment industry or whether he could become famous.
He had come to Guan Yaoming’s side with a heavy mission: to obtain evidence of Guan Zhengtao’s crimes, not to climb the ranks of showbiz.
For the past half year Lin Mo had been “snow-stored.” The lack of work left his schedule open, which actually made it easier to investigate in secret.
However, after more than half a year with no progress, Lin Mo knew he couldn’t remain obscure anymore. He needed to get close to Guan Yaoming in order to complete his mission.
Given that Zhao Mian already stood there like a flawless jade in front of everyone, Lin Mo could never get close to Guan Yaoming as a lover.
In the original novel, there was never any ambiguity between them. Guan Yaoming and Lin Mo were always on opposing sides.
Since waking up in this world, Li Dong kept thinking: what was Guan Yaoming’s weakness? Was it Zhao Mian?
He thought not necessarily.
First of all, Guan Yaoming was very much a male chauvinist. From the way he constantly treated Zhao Mian well yet often got angry with him, frequently cursing him as a son of a b*tch, you could tell this was someone with a big temper.
In a way, Zhao Mian being liked by Guan Yaoming was a disaster that fell from the sky.
Guan Yaoming was definitely not the type of man who remained faithful when he loved someone. He loved in a very self-centered way, and he could separate sex from love, separate lovers from legitimate partners.
Simply put, he was somewhat unprincipled, yet not exactly promiscuous. He just didn’t value these things highly.
“…” After a final kiss, Li Dong lifted himself off of Guan Yaoming and looked at the exhausted young man. “Yao-ge, can I use your bathroom?”
Guan Yaoming glanced at him, nodded, and found that he could not get a word out.
Just now, he had been pressed by Li Dong and… done twice in a row.
The big boss felt, for a moment, as if he had been completely wiped out.
“Thank you.” Li Dong said very politely. He walked openly toward the bathroom, exuding an air of composure and calmness that made him smell like an old hand at this.
Being watched by that gaze as he walked into the bathroom, Li Dong broke into a cold sweat after closing the door.
He had mounted the man too naturally just now. Looking back on it now, he was lucky that Guan Yaoming hadn’t decided to destroy him on the spot.
Before long, Li Dong returned to Guan Yaoming’s side. He bent to pick up his clothes. “Yao-ge, I’ll get going then.”
“Mm.” The man on the bed gave a lazy sound.
As Li Dong dressed, Guan Yaoming watched him out of the corner of his eye and then asked, “How are you getting back?”
Li Dong’s hands paused. He remembered that Lin Mo had hitched a ride with Zhao Mian to get here.
Second, this villa was outside the city. If he wanted to catch a car, he would need to walk a stretch first.
“Then… could Yao-ge give me a room for the night? I’ll head out first thing in the morning,” Li Dong said carefully, uneasy.
Guan Yaoming arched a brow, swept him up and down, then closed his eyes. “Out the door, turn left. Pick a guest room on the second floor.”
“Got it. Thank you, Yao-ge.” Li Dong finished dressing, then padded out quietly.
He picked a random guest room on the second floor and fell straight into sleep.
Before drifting off, Li Dong sorted through what he had to do next.
First, he had read the original novel and knew perfectly well that the evidence of Guan Zhengtao’s crimes did not exist anymore. In this world, there was no way to haul Guan Zhengtao into court and have him punished.
Second, Zhao Mian harbored the intent to kill Guan Yaoming. His hatred would push him to commit a crime, even to step onto a road of no return. That had to be watched. He could not allow Zhao Mian to cross that line.
Preventing Zhao Mian from committing a crime meant protecting Guan Yaoming and also protecting Zhao Mian himself. He might be a scumbag, but he did not deserve to be ruined.
Third, Lin Mo’s undercover identity was extremely dangerous. From now on he had to hide it meticulously, perhaps even sever himself from it entirely.
Li Dong honestly did not want to be an undercover. He especially did not want to get his head blown off by Guan Yaoming.
Given that Shen Shao Yi’s file had already been erased by the military academy, Lin Mo, a graduate who had not formally entered the system, did not count as a police officer.
For secrecy, the police had done a lot of work on Lin Mo’s identity.
Which meant that Li Dong could now truthfully say he had nothing to do with the police. The only bond left between him and them was a sense of responsibility.
The former Lin Mo would have risked his life to complete this dangerous mission, but Li Dong wouldn’t. He feared death and had no ideals about being a police officer.
“Hey, open up.” When the sun was high, a booming voice sounded outside Li Dong’s door, knocking nonstop.
“…” Li Dong jolted awake, got out of bed, opened the door, and saw a burly man with a solid build.
So this was Jin Dachuan. Unexpectedly straight-featured and handsome.
“Kid, what did you say your name was again?” Jin Dachuan jerked his thumb toward the hall. “Yao-ge asked me to send you out. Headed to the city or to the company?”
“Lin Mo. Hello. You’re Chuan-ge, right?” Li Dong held out his hand.
Jin Dachuan eyed the hand, then grudgingly gave it a shake. “Less nonsense. Let’s go.” If not for Guan Yaoming’s personal order, when had Jin Dachuan ever served as chauffeur for a little star?
“Thanks to Yao-ge. Thanks, Chuan-ge,” Li Dong said.
When they arrived at the place he designated, Jin Dachuan stopped the car and let him out, then drove away in a flash.
After getting out of the car, Li Dong found a public telephone on the roadside.
In Lin Mo's memory, there was a phone number. The person who answered was his contact person.
“Lin Mo?” The voice sounded relaxed when the important contact suddenly called. “What’s up? Why the call?”
Li Dong said, “Haven’t met for a while. Drinks at eight tonight?”
“Your place or mine?”
“Yours. It’s inconvenient on my side.”
With the passcode exchange done, the other party finally believed Lin Mo had something to report. “Alright. I’ll wait for you tonight. Be careful.”
Buzz, buzz, buzz, the phone vibrated in Li Dong’s pocket. He answered while walking, stopping at a red light. “Hong-jie, what’s up?”
This Hong-jie was Lin Mo’s agent.
Her full name was Liu Hong. Besides the rookie Lin Mo, she also managed a second-tier actress.
Liu Hong had taken Lin Mo on because he was clean-cut and handsome.
She had not expected the boss to be unimpressed. The company had signed Lin Mo for over half a year and never given him any decent jobs.
This morning a call suddenly came down from upstairs, offering Lin Mo a pretty good endorsement opportunity.
“Where are you now? Get to the company, Hong-jie has something important to tell you,” Liu Hong said. She treated Lin Mo well and had been trying to get him more work.
“Okay.” Li Dong hailed a cab and headed in.
“At Mian-ge’s celebration last night, did you ask him to put in a word for you?” Once at the office, Liu Hong explained the endorsement and then smiled. “You’ve got guts. So quick to find yourself a path. Sticking with Mian-ge isn’t bad. If he looks after you, opportunities will keep coming.”
Li Dong froze. So the endorsement was thanks to Zhao Mian? Not Guan Yaoming stepping in?
But he remembered how last night Guan Yaoming had gritted out that if he climbed into the bed, he would never let him get famous…
“Yeah, I should thank Mian-ge,” he said. “Is the endorsement… already decided?” And what about acting?
Hiring a civil-service-type to shoot an ad… that company had a big heart.
“Yes. The company made the call and recommended only you. The client isn’t in a rush, so results should come soon,” Liu Hong said. “Your job now is to get yourself in shape and be ready for the camera any time.”
As she spoke, she remembered the young man’s appearance. “You’ve kept your figure really well. Your gym habit is excellent. Unlike some artists in the company who refuse to control themselves and eat like pigs.”
Eight that evening, at his handler Wu Guozhi’s place.
“Come in.” Seeing Li Dong carrying two bags of fruit, Wu Guozhi’s mouth twitched. “Why’d you bring fruit?”
“I’m visiting, aren’t I? I don’t drink. If not fruit, what should I bring?” Li Dong slipped off his shoes and sat on the sofa.
“Tea.” Wu Guozhi poured him a cup, then sat across from him. “Any news? Get a lead?”
“Sort of a lead.” Li Dong took a sip and sighed. “This won’t work. We’ll never find evidence on Guan Zhengtao. If we want to arrest him, we’ll have to wait for him to reoffend.”
Wu Guozhi stared. “Why do you say that? What did you find? Is your source reliable?”
He worried Li Dong had been taken in by Guan Yaoming, fed false information.
“As far as we know, Guan Zhengtao has dealt with all the evidence and all who knew. In this world now, there is no one who knows exactly what he did,” Li Dong said. “Including his wife and his son. They cannot know it completely.”
“Even if hope is slim, that doesn’t mean we give up,” Wu Guozhi said. “I don’t believe he covered every single crime spotless. All we need is one piece of evidence strong enough to send him to trial.”
Guan Zhengtao’s misdeeds were countless. They only needed to pin down one.
“I know. We can’t give up.” But apart from waiting for a new crime, there really was no way. Li Dong knew that too well. “Shixiong, I’ll keep staying near Guan Yaoming, but I want to resign from being undercover…”
“What do you mean?” Disbelief flashed across Wu Guozhi’s face, followed by disappointment.
“I have other things I want to do. The undercover status will only get in my way, that’s first. Second…” Li Dong said, “Shixiong, I can’t carry the title of police. I’m giving up that path.”
“The country trained you. So many officers observed you for half a year and selected you for this mission, and now you say you’re quitting?” Wu Guozhi pointed at him, agitated, almost raising his hand to slap him.
“Yes. I know I can’t bear it.” Li Dong said, “I’ll still do what should be done. I don’t know much anyway, so you don’t need to worry that I’ll ruin things… Also, it’s best not to send another undercover to approach Guan Yaoming. It’s a tangled mess…”
“What exactly happened?” Wu Guozhi asked.
“Do you remember Officer Zhao who died in the line of duty four years ago?” Li Dong said. “His son, Zhao Jun’an, that’s the film and television star Zhao Mian. Zhao Mian is now Guan Yaoming’s lover. They’ve been together for two or three years. Do you think Zhao Jun’an would be with the son of the man who killed his father?”
“…” Wu Guozhi was stunned, then fell into silence.
“I attended Officer Zhao’s funeral. If Zhao Jun’an exposes me, I’m a dead man. On the other hand, if I expose him, he’ll fall under Guan Yaoming’s suspicion,” Li Dong said, meeting Wu Guozhi’s eyes. “And I need to keep an eye on Zhao Jun’an so he doesn’t act on impulse. I need an absolutely safe identity.”
Guan Yaoming was a law-abiding citizen. He had not committed a crime. He was someone the police ought to protect.
“Your current identity is fabricated. There is no absolute safety,” Wu Guozhi said. Undercover work could never be safe. “If you’re no longer police, we’ll assign someone else to replace you. You will have no right to interfere…”
“I do,” Li Dong said. “Even if I’m not police, I don’t want Zhao Jun’an to kill Guan Yaoming. I can still step in. I would definitely fail the psych evaluation, so letting me step down now is the right choice.”
He was right, and Wu Guozhi had no rebuttal.
“If you insist, I’ll report it up the chain,” Wu Guozhi said. “But when it comes to Officer Zhao’s son, be careful.” He warned, “If you cross the line, we will still arrest you.”
After sending Li Dong off, Wu Guozhi immediately began checking into the star Zhao Mian’s identity.
Hard evidence yielded nothing. From photos alone though, there was a very high chance that Zhao Mian and Zhao Jun’an were the same person.
The next evening, he wrote a report and submitted it to the top superior in charge of the Guan Zhengtao case.
“He’s giving up being a police officer?”
“Yes.”
That last bit of news from Li Dong left the small office heavy with silence.
An undercover chosen after a thousand selections, retreating at the crucial moment, it was not something that pleased anyone. What they could not figure out was why Lin Mo was suddenly dropping the load.
“How is his relationship with Guan Yaoming?”
“So-so. Not much contact.”
So it was not a case of catching feelings for the target. As for the rest, they had no leads for the moment.
At this time, Li Dong was at a sunny beach, shooting a fruit juice commercial.
He had not expected his first ad gig to be one that required showing skin.
Originally, the brand had their eye on a second-tier male artist under Star Emperor.
That second-tier star had just become popular, a very pleasing “little fresh meat.”
But once the client saw Li Dong’s stills and video, they immediately chose this handsome, well-built type to endorse their product.
The current Li Dong could be very aptly described as having a baby face with a great body.
At the company, Guan Yaoming sat watching raw footage of Li Dong’s commercial on his screen.
On the monitor, the young man radiated youth, bright-eyed and white-toothed, with striking features. Yet he also had long legs and a sculpted eight-pack, his body trained to precision.
Although he smiled with youthful vigor, when he glanced sideways at the camera, that composure and maturity all concentrated in his brow, making one’s heartstrings tremble.
“Yaoming.” The person who walked in was Zhao Mian. He looked travel-worn, having just arrived at the company. Indeed, Zhao Mian had been particularly busy with work recently, which meant that since their last argument, he hadn’t had a chance to speak face-to-face with Guan Yaoming. “I just got back. After this, I can rest for about three or four days.”
“Well, congratulations,” Guan Yaoming said, moving the mouse to close Li Dong’s video.
“How about a short trip for those three or four days?” Zhao Mian leaned on the desk with a smile. “We haven’t traveled together in a long time. This is a rare chance.”
Guan Yaoming laughed, cold and thin. “Is that so? If you still have time to date female stars, it doesn’t sound like you were as ‘busy’ as you said.”
“It was a tied-in publicity stunt. I thought you knew,” Zhao Mian said, helpless. “It has blown over online. Everyone knows it was hype.”
“I’m the only one who didn’t?” Guan Yaoming glared. “Zhao Mian, what do you take me, Guan Yaoming, for?”
After two or three years together, Zhao Mian knew his temper too well. When Guan Yaoming got angry, this was exactly how he was.
“As public figures, these things can’t be avoided. You, of all people, an entertainment businessman, should know better than anyone that it is all smoke and mirrors,” Zhao Mian said, temper rising as well. “If you want me to have zero scandals, there is only one way. You might as well lock me up.”
“So you mean your scandals are perfectly justified?” Guan Yaoming stood, meeting his eyes. “Don’t forget who you are. You’re my f***ing person, not some actress’s, and certainly not this industry’s. Not your fans’ either. You belong to me. Do you understand?”
“I worked my *ss off to make you famous. Not so you could piss me off every day.” He gripped Zhao Mian’s chin and kissed him hard.
Every time he kissed Guan Yaoming was torment for Zhao Mian.
He always went through the motions, his face never showing a hint of pleasure.
A large reason Guan Yaoming avoided sleeping with Zhao Mian was precisely because Zhao never took the initiative. He seemed to have no interest at all.
As a man of high status and power, Guan Yaoming would never strip and beg Zhao Mian to take him.
“Is kissing me that unbearable?”
Zhao Mian stood stiff as wood. The reaction infuriated Guan Yaoming in an instant.
“You think I’m the one making you angry but I’m the one being wronged,” Zhao Mian pushed him away. “Your mood is bad. Mine is too.”
So how could he have the mood to kiss?
He kept his refusal with perfect justification, not giving Guan Yaoming a single pleasant expression to look at.
“Get out.” After a stretch of silence, Guan Yaoming suddenly exploded with one word, pointing at the door.
“I hope you think carefully about why we are always like this,” Zhao Mian said coolly before leaving. “I’m going away on my own for a few days. Hopefully when I’m back there will be good news.”
When the door shut, everything on Guan Yaoming’s desk went flying with a crash, scattering across the floor.
“Yao-ge.” Jin Dachuan came in, glanced at the mess, and stepped over it as if used to the sight. “Your orders?”
Standing in the middle of the room, Guan Yaoming turned and shot his subordinate a look. “Go find Liu Hong. Have her send that artist under her, Lin Mo, to my house.”
“Right now?”
“Stop f*cking dawdling! I’m on fire right now and need to put it out!” Guan Yaoming snapped, face dark.
“Oh, oh.” Jin Dachuan ran out at once, though he could not for the life of him figure out what on earth Liu Hong’s artist had to do with putting out a fire. Shouldn’t he be looking for a fire extinguisher?
Little Note:
Mian-ge (勉哥), Hong-jie (虹姐), Chuan-ge (川哥): “Ge/jie” are brother/sister honorifics for seniority or affection :')
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