Chapter 25: The Rain House

Later, when filming the second kissing scene, Shang Yin came to visit the set again.

That night, the two of them "rubbed against each other" once more.

Unlike previous times, Su Shengxin took the initiative. As they stood before the window, Su Shengxin lowered his eyelashes, gripped the other man's hands, stood on tiptoe, and rubbed against him bit by bit.

At first, he controlled the rhythm, keeping it slow, but soon he began to gasp heavily, the pace becoming faster and more intense, forcing Shang Yin to steady him. In the end, Su Shengxin was drained of all strength, his forehead resting limply in the crook of Shang Yin’s sweat-dampened shoulder as he inhaled his scent. Shang Yin simply stroked his hair.

Because he hadn't reached release yet, Shang Yin lifted Su Shengxin's knees, pinned his back against the wall, and kissed his lips. After testing the waters, he pressed their legs together. Su Shengxin, wrapping his arms around Shang Yin’s broad, sturdy shoulders, complied with him.

...

"The劫 of Heaven and Earth" was filmed over three months.

During those three months, "A Promise of Three Lifetimes" finished its full broadcast.

Unlike typical variety shows, the program's popularity surged due to its unique progression model. Defying the usual trend where "freshness fades and interest wanes," the discussions surrounding the couples never died down, especially regarding the pairings of Jiang Wen and Shang Yin.

Comments flooded the internet:

"Oh my, my sexual orientation is so fluid. I went from shipping men with men, to men with women, to women with women. How can I love shipping so much?"

"Me too..."

"Me too... Maybe next season they should invite the person who married a rice cooker. I’ll probably go from mocking them to being completely obsessed."

"Good grief, you want to get into non-human pairings now?"

"No, I mean, a Japanese person and a rice cooker—can you really ship that?"

Regarding Su Shengxin, many commented: "Is Su-laoshi really like this? He always shows how much he craves the other, but once the other person can't take it anymore, he pushes them away? Driving Mr. Shang absolutely mad."

"It doesn't look like they've been married for over two years; it’s more like they’ve only been dating for a few days."

"He usually looks so cool and aloof."

At first, Su Shengxin kept an eye on the public discourse, but as he grew busier, he stopped paying attention.

After "The劫 of Heaven and Earth" wrapped up, Su Shengxin had to tackle the pile of work that had accumulated over those three months.

His agent mentioned that the video department of the Shang Zhou Group was launching a competition and promotional campaign for traditional musical instruments in the coming year, titled "Splendid National Music," and invited Su Shengxin to be the ambassador. However, just as Su Shengxin was about to agree, he received a message from Shang Yin: "Refuse the 'Splendid National Music' program."

"???" Su Shengxin was puzzled and asked, "Huh? Isn't this the flagship program for the Shang Zhou Group next year?"

"Yes," Shang Yin replied, seemingly non-sequitur, "but refuse it anyway."

"Alright." Su Shengxin found it strange, but he trusted Shang Yin, so he instructed his agent to turn down the job.

"Huh???" The agent was also stunned and asked Su Shengxin, "Why turn this down? It fits your style perfectly. Is there any reason to refuse this??"

Su Shengxin didn't understand either, so he answered honestly, "Shang Yin told me to refuse it first."

"Mr. Shang?" the agent said, "I don't understand."

Su Shengxin replied, "Neither do I. I guess it's just a way to build hype for the show. Let's just go along with it."

The agent was concerned for Su Shengxin: "Shouldn't you ask for clarification? What if it ends up hurting you in the end—"

Su Shengxin fell silent for a moment before saying, "That's impossible. I trust Shang Yin."

And so, for the sake of promotion, the "Splendid National Music" production team invited Su Shengxin several times. Yet, every time Su Shengxin asked Shang Yin, the answer was always "refuse them." Even Su Shengxin began to find it odd.

Surely, hyping a show didn't require being rejected multiple times? Besides, he didn't see any buzz about him rejecting the show; everything remained quiet.

The mystery did not last long.

After the fourth refusal, quite unexpectedly, Su Shengxin received a call from his father.

Su Jiming chatted about other things first, and then, after a dozen seconds of hesitation, he asked, "Did you... refuse that program?"

"...?" It took Su Shengxin a moment to realize which program he meant. He replied, "Yes. I refused it. Why?"

"That thing is quite good," Su Jiming said, maintaining his superior tone. "It showcases our culture to society and provides opportunities for newcomers. It will go deep into every region and ethnic group in our country to collect and promote their traditional instruments and music. You know this is what I've always wanted to do. Many masters in the association have been invited as judges or guests. In short, it’s quite decent."

Su Shengxin lowered his eyes and asked coolly, "And then?"

"And then?" Su Jiming scoffed. "You forgot your responsibilities and abandoned your duties years ago to go off and act in those... those tacky romance dramas. We were both heartbroken, knowing we had failed to raise you properly. But after all these years, you seem to have made some progress, so I’ll let that slide. But this time, you could have regained a little face for yourself in front of the elders of the association and done everyone a favor. Why refuse? Besides, it’s time you fulfilled a little bit of your duty."

By now, Su Shengxin understood. A wave of numbness washed over him, and he smiled faintly, saying, "But Father, my schedule has long been full."

"..." Su Jiming was choked up for a moment but insisted, "Shift your schedule. Agree to this, and you'll find the time if you squeeze it in."

Su Shengxin asked calmly, "But why? Just for my own face? In front of those elders in the association? I don't care. We haven't had any connection for a long time. The ones I am responsible to now are my audience, especially those who like and support me, not some elders in an association. Renegotiating things I’ve already finalized and commitments I’ve already made requires a much stronger reason. Also, Father, what exactly is 'my responsibility'? Who gave it to me? Was I born with it? Why can't I choose my own life after becoming an adult?"

"You—" Su Jiming paused, then said again, "You really are—you are our only child! We gave birth to you, raised you, educated you, and nurtured you! We chose to have you, so of course we had expectations! In our country, it has always been the tradition for a son to carry on his father's work, do you understand? The elders in the association whose children are successful are so proud and boastful. If you had no talent, that would be one thing—we would just accept our bad luck and admit we lost the gamble. But you clearly...! Everyone around knows my son has talent, yet you turned around and threw it all away to act in web dramas! If we had known it would be this embarrassing, we might never have had you in the first place! And all the effort we put in, yet you...! With that time and energy, what couldn't we have done? Maybe we could have had another child! Why did we have to waste our time on you until you were sixteen?"

"..." Su Shengxin lowered his gaze and said, "Father, if you wanted me to participate, you could have just talked to me properly. If you have nothing else to say, let's leave it at that."

With that, Su Shengxin hung up.

It was strange; he should have felt deeply hurt, but he didn't.

Now, there was someone else who loved him. His emotions were cared for, his grievances were healed, and his sense of loss was filled. He felt a rare, vibrant, and upward-surging vitality.

Su Jiming didn't struggle for long.

Su Shengxin kept refusing, and the production team kept extending invitations. Finally, knowing the father-son relationship, the production team asked the judges—the "elders of the association"—to use their personal connections to ask Su Jiming to persuade Su Shengxin to promote the show. Su Jiming, unable to bear the "loss of face" that came with his son refusing to promote an important industry event, finally buckled. Two weeks later, he called again.

After all, he was the president of the association.

He begged Su Shengxin with soft, gentle words, and finally, taking a deep breath, said, "You... please, consider it a favor to us. Your mother and I are begging you! Say yes to them, will you?"

Su Shengxin listened quietly.

This was the first time in many years his parents had lowered their guard, the first time they had asked him for something.

He didn't want his parents to feel that their request was too humiliating, so after a long silence, he finally sighed softly: "I will rearrange my schedule."

After hanging up the phone, Su Shengxin suddenly felt a sense of relief.

Yes, even his parents thought he was terrible, having said several times, "If we had known you would turn out like this, we never would have had you." But there were others who thought he was wonderful and were grateful for his existence.

He knew Shang Yin wanted his parents to "beg" him harder, otherwise this wouldn't have happened, but he didn't seem to feel sad anymore.

...

Before the program began, Su Shengxin noticed that those who had taken advantage of him recently were all suffering from bad luck.

For instance, the American who had previously harassed him was suddenly exposed by a journalist for sexually harassing multiple subordinates, both male and female. As a fashion brand with the slogan "all for women," this scandal involving a high-level executive caused an uproar, and the brand immediately fired him.

Su Shengxin sent a message to Shang Yin: "About that, regarding my family matters and the other things, thank you."

Shang Yin replied coolly, "What are you thanking me for?"

Su Shengxin said, "You didn't have to do all that."

Shang Yin replied, "It seems there is nothing I consider 'have to' do; there are only things I 'want' to do."

"...Hmm."

Suddenly, Su Shengxin remembered that when they were inventing a story months ago, their initial agreement was that their first real date would be at that "Rain Room." He suddenly felt a strong urge to actually fulfill that activity and said to Shang Yin, "Do you want to go to that Rain Room? It seems it’s about to be dismantled. The world tour ends this month, and then it will be completely torn down. Should we try to catch it before it’s gone? The last stop of the tour seems to be back in New York."

Shang Yin said, "The exhibition is already over. It ended just as you were doing your roadshow last week."

"...Ah," Su Shengxin said, feeling disappointed, "then never mind, let's not go."

The timing was just too unfortunate.

However, Shang Yin replied, "We can still go."

Su Shengxin: "???"

He asked, "How???"

Shang Yin said, "The exhibition is indeed over, but the Rain Room hasn't been dismantled yet."

Su Shengxin was bewildered: "???"

A few seconds later, the mystery was solved when Shang Yin said, "I bought it after the exhibition ended. You seemed to like that thing."

Su Shengxin: "...................."

He had played many overbearing CEOs in romance dramas, but recently, he couldn't help but feel that his own acting wasn't quite "pretentious" enough.