Damn It! The Main Shou Turned Me Gay! (Showbiz) - Chapter 16

Chapter 16: More Sugar, Please

“You guys… How could you act so recklessly!”

Praying for the floor to open up, both Qi Wenyan and Chu Zhiyu hung their heads in unison, staring intently as if there were some magical treasure on the ground.

Li An clutched his chest, devastated. “This was such a perfect marketing opportunity! Qi, if you’d given me a heads-up, our company’s eight hundred marketing accounts would’ve been all over it!”

Now the free traffic had all gone to that damn paparazzi!

Qi Wenyan raised his head and shrugged innocently. “Don’t panic, Director Li. I’m here to plead guilty and make amends.”

Chu Zhiyu added quietly, “Qi-ge was just joking at first. It was me who went to grab the props.”

Li An looked the two up and down, suspicious. After a long moment, he muttered, “Why does this feel like I’m the evil villain trying to break up a star-crossed couple…”

Qi flashed a calm but vaguely threatening smile. “So Director Li isn’t interested in my ‘pleading guilty’ gift?”

He turned dramatically, tugged on Chu Zhiyu’s sleeve, and drawled, “Guess it’s just me and Little Chu being sentimental for nothing—”

“Wait, wait!”

Li An pinched the bridge of his nose, giving in. “Fine, fine, I barely got to act tough for two minutes and you’re already pushing back. Qi-ge, you really don’t let anyone take the upper hand!”

Looking smug, Qi Wenyan turned back around with the poise of a disguised emperor on a secret outing and waved casually.
“Little Chu, show Director Li the video we made.”

Chu Zhiyu nodded and opened his phone, pulling up the saved draft.

On screen, in a modest hotel room, Qi Wenyan and Chu Zhiyu stood facing each other.

Qi raised an eyebrow, suddenly grabbed Chu Zhiyu’s collar, and yanked him forward!

A flash of white light and—scene transition.

Now, the two were in a bamboo forest. Wind Xiao, dressed in martial robes, stumbled into the arms of his master, Qing Yuan, now draped in flowing scholarly robes, looking ethereal.

“My disciple, shall we head down the mountain for some wine?”

Video ends.

Qi Wenyan awkwardly scratched his ear.
Honestly, after spending a few days lurking in the CP supertopic, he had wavered over whether to use this video for promotion.

But just now, Little Chu had inspired him!

What’s wrong with a couple of straight bros helping out with promo?

He had a clear conscience. As long as he stayed true to himself, there was no problem!

Confidently, he lifted his hand and announced to Director Li:
“Well, my good minister, are you pleased with what you’ve seen?”

Pleased?! He was thrilled!

Li An had never seen anyone like him: scriptwriter, actor, scene coach—and now he’d even taken up promotional work!

Tears of gratitude welled up. He lunged forward for a hug—only to be neatly dodged by Qi Wenyan and gently blocked by Chu Zhiyu.

Still unfazed, he clapped his hands and declared,
“Alright! Then I’m officially assigning the task of picking the most auspicious release time to you—Your Majesty!”

Qi Wenyan quickly shoved away Li An’s attempt to dump work on him and refused with exaggerated vigilance:
“Let the professionals do the professional work—I already had Little Chu send the video to the publicity team.”

Li An clicked his tongue, disappointed. “Tsk, I was just about to say that. Qi-ge, you’re so overly cautious~”

Qi Wenyan, creeped out by the faux-flirty tone, immediately dragged Chu Zhiyu and ran.

That evening, the video dropped right on time.

@DuoyiOfficialV: “Heard someone ran into Wind Xiao and Master Qing Yuan having a little off-screen bonding time?”

The post exploded—likes, shares, comments, saves—skyrocketing within minutes.

Thank you, I am stuffed
THIS! This is what happens when you follow the right chef—quality meal!!
I bet this was Qi-laoshi’s idea!!!
Please, keep serving us! Drop the straight-man pride! If you wanna be popular, get on the CP train!!
If your fave personally cooked for you too, you’d feel lucky like me. 

Qi Wenyan refreshed the page—more comments surged up like a tidal wave.

He paused, then logged in and replied to one.

@XiaoTuGuaiGuai: “Thank you, Teacher Qi! I’m stuffed 😭”

@QiWenyanV: “You’re welcome (^_^)”

@XiaoTuGuaiGuai: “?”
@XiaoTuGuaiGuai: “???”
@XiaoTuGuaiGuai: “WTFWTFWTF AHHHHHHHHHH!!”

After replying, Qi Wenyan quietly exited the now-glitchy backend, locked his screen, and leaned back with the air of a good man doing anonymous charity.

Tremble, all of you! Witness the generosity and dignity of a truly open-minded bro!

Filming passed quickly. With only occasional scenes involving the master character, Qi Wenyan enjoyed a rather relaxed schedule.

And during that month, he’d leveled up to founding father status in the “Yuyan Stories” supertopic.

Not to mention—the fans? Hilarious. Witty. Literary geniuses.

Especially the angsty AU fics? Pure gold.

One ABO angst-fic nearly kept him up all night—it was so good.

He never realized he loved the juicy, sour drama of melodramatic fanfics this much.Though for those explicit scenes buried behind 10 layers of links, he still had some mental resistance.

Meanwhile, as Qi Wenyan chilled in his side quest, Chu Zhiyu—the male lead—was busy on the frontlines.

After a month of intense filming, his arms had noticeably toned, his jawline sharper… in short, he looked even more handsome.

After today, the crew would be moving to the ancient city of Wu for the next filming location.

Back on set, Qi Wenyan sat beside Director Li, tapping away on his laptop while occasionally glancing at the monitor to check on Xu Du and Chu Zhiyu’s performance.

Li An picked up the walkie-talkie:
“Great job, everyone! Let’s give it one more take—wrap this up strong and we get an early dismissal before relocation!”

After boosting morale, he rubbed his hands together and peeked at Qi Wenyan’s screen.

Next thing he knew, Qi Wenyan slammed his laptop shut and raised a brow.
“Director Li, since when did my laptop double as a monitor?”

Li An chuckled awkwardly and elbowed Qi like a schoolboy. The force nearly knocked him off his chair.

He quickly reached to steady him. “You okay, Qi-ge?!”

Qi Wenyan: “……”

Rubbing his forehead, he sighed, “Director Li, what do you want?”

Li An fidgeted, then finally asked, “Qi-ge… are you writing your next script?”

Qi Wenyan’s fingers froze mid-type. A beat passed before he replied casually, “Nah, just jotting stuff down.”

He couldn’t exactly say: Oh, I binged CP fanfiction of myself and Little Chu last night and got inspired by a dramatic plot twist.

Not to mention—he wasn’t even the real Qi Wenyan. Just a transmigrated amnesiac impersonating a famous writer.

What if someone bought his next work expecting greatness, only to realize it sucked? He’d be ruined!

So he hit “save,” closed the laptop again, and said with his actions: Not happening.

Li An pouted like a rejected spouse.
“Qi-ge, you don’t love me anymore… Writing your next masterpiece behind my back like I’m your discarded ex…”

Qi Wenyan deadpanned, “I’m single. And if I did have a partner, it’d be Little Chu. Stop guilt-tripping me!”

“Hm? Qi-ge, you called me?”

Chu Zhiyu suddenly appeared behind them, startling Qi Wenyan, who almost dropped his laptop.

Two hands reached forward, brushing past his knee and steadying the tipping laptop with practiced ease.

Chu Zhiyu returned it gently to his lap, smiling sweetly. “Qi-ge.”

Qi Wenyan blanked for a moment, then snapped out of it and cleared his throat.
“Ahem. We were just talking about you! Your acting’s improved a lot lately!”

It wasn’t a lie. They had talked about it… thirty minutes ago.

Thankfully, Chu Zhiyu didn’t question anything, just nodded like always—whatever Qi-ge said, he believed.

He smiled gently. “Qi-ge, are you going home today?”

Qi Wenyan leaned back and sighed dramatically. “Don’t mention it, kid. It’s time for the dreaded matchmaking lunch…”

Li An tried to comfort him, “Come on, blind dates aren’t that bad. Just treat it like meeting a new friend, expanding your social circle! Who knows? Maybe fate awaits!”

Qi Wenyan lazily waved him off. “I don’t need fate through forced setups.”

Chu Zhiyu passed him a bottle of water and sat beside him. “Qi-ge, going home… is that Jiangcheng?”

Qi nodded. “Yeah, my parents live abroad. I’m the only one left in Jiangcheng.”

Then Chu Zhiyu asked, “Qi-ge, your birthday lunch—is it on the 21st? Lunch or dinner?”

“…Hm?” Qi Wenyan picked up on the subtle shift. Sitting up straighter, he replied—perhaps too eagerly—
“It’s lunch. You want to come?!”

Because his mom had arranged a blind date that day, he hadn’t invited anyone. He figured it’d be a miserable time.

Chu Zhiyu glanced toward Li An and smiled, “I asked Director Li for leave yesterday. I have a class reunion in Jiangcheng on the 21st, and since the 22nd is my birthday, he gave me both days off.”

Li An waved it off, saying, “No biggie. I’ll be helping B-unit these two days anyway. Letting you guys rest before the next shoot.”

Chu Zhiyu’s coming to my birthday…!

Qi Wenyan’s eyes lit up. He quickly calculated something, then clapped his hands.

“Wait, since I’m being dragged to a blind date on my actual birthday, why don’t I just move it to the 22nd and celebrate with you instead?!”

“Those other people I see every day—no big deal skipping them. You said you were jealous of how lively my birthday was? From now on, I’ll celebrate yours too—every year, one day early, and I’ll be there!”

The words hit Chu Zhiyu like a wave of déjà vu.

‘Jealous of my birthday being lively? From now on, we’ll celebrate together—every year, one day early, and I’ll be there!’

He pushed the memory away and smiled softly.

“Mm.”

“Thanks, Qi-ge.”

Thank you for always bringing me along.