ROAMS – Chapter 2

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Chapter 2 – A Black Umbrella

Bai Lang and Qiu Qian had met quite early on.

Long before Bai Lang first appeared on TV screens, the two of them had a meeting.

At that time, Bai Lang was a third year student at a famous university. One day, on the street, he had been given a business card. This was not the first time something like this had happened to Bai Lang, who was clean and good looking. Each time previously he had simply thrown it into the trash bin and never thought about it again.

However that year was the first time his older brother Bai Li had experienced a business failure, resulting in a large debt. Although the sum was nothing compared to the one that the future gotten-famous Bai Lang would have to repay for him, however at that time it was enough to make the Bai family suffer some pressure.

So Bai Lang’s father and mother came to him to discuss withdrawing him from school.

Bai Li was their oldest son. And their “backup son” Bai Lang was someone who had been born unexpectedly and was outside their plans. In these two old people’s hearts, their expectations and concerns for their eldest son Bai Li was always much higher than their second son Bai Lang.

And this time if Bai Li was not able to come up with the money, he would face the penalty of a bankruptcy record. It would be a stain that he would not be able to clean off his entire life. So no matter what, the fact that the younger brother Bai Lang should reach out to help his older brother was something that they felt was to be expected.

Bai Lang was not surprised by this request even though he was not close emotionally with Bai Li who was older than him by seven years. However withdrawing from school would impact his future greatly. So in order to remain in school and still have money to help his family, Bai Lang sought out the company who had given him the business card. He thought about the advance signing bonus that the company promised him. If he could help Bai Li weather this initial hardship, then he could slowly make up the rest in time.

However in this world there was no such thing as a free lunch. Bai Lang, who was innocent and naive and didn’t have any society experience, fell into a trap this time. After he received the money, Bai Li’s burdens were reduced greatly. However at this time Bai Lang found out that his first job was to go to a club to accompany people to drink. He regretted it but it was too late to back out.

It was at this time that Bai Lang went out to the club and met the VIP customer Qiu Qian.

Qiu Qian was immediately attracted to the pale-faced Bai Lang at first glance. It was not related to Bai Lang’s appearance. It wasn’t as though that, in the circle of actors and models that he was used to associating in, there wasn’t anyone better looking than Bai Lang. What piqued Qiu Qian’s interest was the expression of panic and disgust in the young man’s eyes which he was unable to completely conceal. Qiu Qian wanted to see what it would take to make this young man yield.

However Qiu Qian overestimated Bai Lang. After only a few sips of spirits, Bai Lang became dizzy and was pushed down by Qiu Qian onto the couch. After being held underneath his chin and kissed with tongue, with their upper thighs rubbing together, Bai Lang’s eyes were filled with tears and he was played with by Qiu Qian until he was trembling and humiliated and nearly came inside his pants.

It was Qiu Qian, who was pressing Bai Lang down, that decided not to do it until the end. It was like he was playing with a small animal. He only licked Bai Lang’s red ears and unexpectedly let Bai Lang go that night.

But the day after Bai Lang ran away in a panic from the club, he received the notice that his contract had been transferred to the En Jiang Group’s subsidiary company Total Entertainment. He received a call from a slew of strangers which told him that Total Entertainment’s big boss was Qiu Qian and that he was very interested in taking Bai Lang as a kept lover, because he was clean and beautiful.

{T/N: 包养/”bao yang”, literally means nurturing/cultivating and basically means taking someone in and providing for all their expenses and in return they will become your kept lover or mistress. A sugar daddy/sugar baby type relationship.}

Bai Lang was so angry his entire body trembled. He was also both shocked and scared.

When Qiu Qian called personally to ask him, Bai Lang rejected him with a trembling voice. Qiu Qian replied in his husky voice and, on the phone, lightly laughed at Bai Lang for his innocence and naivety.

In the following weeks Bai Lang was on tenterhooks, afraid that Qiu Qian would come after him for revenge, however that didn’t happen. Still, all good opportunities for training and exposure passed him by. The other small name actors beside him told him that this could be counted as being slowly frozen out. If he didn’t consider changing his answer, then his career as an actor would be at an end.

This was something that Bai Lang could only wish for. At that time Bai Lang only wanted to fulfil his contract at the most basic level. Once he repaid his debt, he would be free of this world of darkness and evil.

However it was as though the company wanted to keep Bai Lang hanging. Every job he got came with minimal payment, such as being the waiter at a wine exhibition or passing out flyers at a car exhibition. In this way it dragged on and on, the contract wore on for over a year and by the time Bai Lang graduated university, he still had not repaid his debt.

Bai Lang had also considered breaking the contract. However the high cost of breaking the contract was not something that Bai Lang could repay. Also, the contract clearly stated that during the time of the contract, Bai Lang was not able to undertake any other kind of separate work. Whether it be a tutor, shop assistant or even an assistant teacher at the school, it was all not possible.

Bai Lang was completely denied all work opportunities. Even though he graduated from university, if he wasn’t able to get out of the contract, Bai Lang was still restricted and had no income. At this time the Bai family was still not able to completely walk out from the shadow of Bai Li’s failed business venture. In the face of Bai Lang’s inability to work, they were filled with laments and complaints. They had completely forgotten that the entire reason that Bai Lang had gotten into this mess in the first place was because of Bai Li. 

After Bai Lang graduated university for two months, just as his situation was becoming more and more hopeless, the company suddenly unexpectedly gave him a role in a long drama that was to run for over half a year. It was also something that suited Bai Lang’s image. 

In order to help him undertake this role which had a “not many but also not few” number of scenes, the appropriate acting lessons and training also soon followed. In the next four months, Bai Lang undertook a busy and varied schedule of training which was almost equal to the official artists signed to the company.

Of course, the costs of such a training were to be undertaken by Bai Lang himself. According to the entertainment company, since the benefit of the training was Bai Lang then it was up to Bai Lang to pay for it. However it seemed that the previous incident of Bai Lang rejecting being a kept lover seemed to have been forgotten by the company.

Bai Lang was suspicious about this incident however he couldn’t consider it too much. The reality of his circumstances forced him to accept these conditions. He seriously undertook his training programme and completely dedicated himself to his first role in Partners for Life as the single father, Jiang XinCheng.

In the drama, although Bai Lang’s acting ability was shallow, his image completely fulfilled the requirements of the role. He was someone who had not been in society for long, an innocent and awkward single father. All of this helped to cover up Bai Lang’s inexperience, and the addition of the cute and genius six year old child star Duo Duo helped a lot too. He acted as Bai Lang’s son in the drama and helped Bai Lang become famous almost overnight.

During the six months Partners was slowly broadcast, the company also helped Bai Lang accept many advertising endorsements. All different types of jobs came his way and further helped push Bai Lang into the road of becoming an actor. After this it was impossible for him to get away.

However, even afterwards when his fortune turned, Bai Lang did not consider leaving the road of being an actor. The first acting job really brought to Bai Lang many feelings of true joy.

Afterwards, Bai Li once again had a second business failure. He didn’t learn from the mistakes of the first time and, after falling in with some unsavoury ‘friends’, thought he had some insider knowledge about an unlisted company. He thought he could invest in it early and get back a big reward. He borrowed a large sum of money from a loan shark and placed it all into this company.

However in the end the insider knowledge he received was only empty air. Bai Li fell into a huge debt. When the loan shark furiously pursued him to repay the money, the entire Bai family was placed under violent threats of danger. Bai Lang, who had no house or assets, could only open his mouth to ask the entertainment company for more money in order to help his brother repay his debts and bypass this storm.

From that day on Bai Lang, who on the screen was bright and dazzling, began to take on the dark and terrible burden of repaying debts.

Because it wasn’t just Bai Li’s debt itself but also because Bai Lang had been contracted to endorse several products. When the news of Bai Li’s debts ruined Bai Lang’s image, he had to repay a much larger damage of defaulting on his contracts. {T/N: Because his contract stipulates that he cannot have any image damaging incidents.}

These two incidents of great rises and great falls became like a vicious cycle. Bai Li continued to ask Bai Lang to help him repay various debts. Bai Lang’s debts became more and more, to the extent that even if he wanted to buy a car, he had to consider things carefully.

However Bai Lang’s debtee, from the beginning to the end, had always been Qiu Qian.

It was Qiu Qian who helped Bai Lang settle his damages for breaking his contracts. It was him that accepted all of Bai Lang’s responsibilities. And the reason seemed just to be so he could, at irregular intervals, call Bai Lang on the phone to discuss with him his debts and his choices in life, and ask him to reconsider his still-valid proposal to be his kept lover.

After seeing the gentle but stubborn Bai Lang refuse him time after time, it seemed that Qiu Qian was able to get some joy out of these interactions. He loved to bring up this proposal each time Bai Lang was at his lowest, to test Bai Lang’s perseverance.

This kind of mocking and playful attitude provided an explanation for some things. The people beside Bai Lang, whether it be his stylist, manager, or make up artist, were all people of skill and talent. However each time he faced a crucial trial, they would not receive much assistance. It was as though a cold blanket always covered Bai Lang and so his road as an actor was always difficult and shallow.

It was not until the final time that Bai Lang really broke his heart.

He would rather that these ugly and poisonous slanders were tricks that Qiu Qian had created, rather than Kang Jian. That was why he had run over here to accuse Qiu Qian. And the answer he had received was the one that until now he had been too afraid to face: Kang Jian’s betrayal.

It was probably good that he had died at that moment. Bai Lang always thought this.

Facing the rejection of both his family and his lover, he really didn’t know what else he had to live for.

But he had never thought that Qiu Qian, whom Bai Lang had always seen as a knife held to his throat, would be so unexpectedly sorrowful over him.

Even if there must have been some element of guilt in there, Bai Lang had never blamed Qiu Qian. He only remembered Qiu Qian’s holding the black umbrella and his anguished profile. That image was like a stamp and, from the moment it appeared, it remained stubbornly fixed in Bai Lang’s mind….

Di-lin-lin-di-lin-lin–

In the darkness the piercing sound of the mobile phone rang, breaking Bai Lang’s reverie.

He picked up his phone and took a look. It was his older brother Bai Li calling.

Bai Lang’s heart felt extremely complicated. Because, judging by the timing, he knew that his older brother was calling to beg for his help.

After Partners for Life was broadcast for two months, Bai Lang had only just signed a few important endorsement contracts. It was at this time that Bai Li became indebted to the loan shark for the sum of two million borrowed money plus three million interest, a total sum of five million. He had received his final notice. If he didn’t pay within one week, then there would be consequences.

Since fate had chosen to let Bai Lang do over everything again, then this time what should he choose….?

“Big brother,” Bai Lang waited two more rings before answering the phone.

“Little brother!! You have to help me!! My life is in your hands!!”

Bai Li’s cry sounded from the phone.

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