Comrade: Almost a Cat-astrophic Love Story

Of late, Fu Sichen had been working hard to make his presence felt. He had only just quashed a potential rumor of Pei Zhen and Xiao Nian being a couple to secure his position as Pei Zhen’s boyfriend.

He was satisfied.

Of course, it wasn’t enough to just make the filming crew feel good. He also needed to correct any misperceptions among the netizens.

‘Pei Zhen Studio’ was thus launched.

Pei Zhen signed a contract with the studio and started to take on sponsorship deals and assignments once again.

The studio didn’t draw a commission and didn’t impose demanding terms and conditions. In addition, the boss behind the studio was Fu Sichen!

When the news was out, it was a cruel slap to those who were rejoicing in other people’s adversity, and those who were pointing fingers and making nasty comments. Now they have no cause to continue making those remarks.

Their faces would have been swollen from all the slaps!

Fu Sichen wasn’t a piece of trash, and neither was Pei Zhen in dire straits as they thought. Maybe riding a bicycle was Daddy Pei’s whim of the moment, and perhaps he just needed some exercise.

And with the launch of the movie ‘The Scam’, it became the talk of the town. Pei Zhen and Fu Sichen, being the two hottest co-stars, made the film a hit with their superb acting skills.

The movie did far better than expected.

The movie was a mega-hit, scoring both in box office and review, particularly Pei Zhen’s character. In the movie, his character laid down a perfect scam, which left the netizens in tears.

“Have you watched The Scam? It was excellent!”

“I was laughing idiotically at the start, but the ending made me weep like hell!”

“I cried from the movie theatre to my home, my mum got a fright and almost made a police report. It’s so sweet. [dodge].”

“Go watch it! The ladies who haven’t got hooked, please go watch it! And after you’ve watched it remember to write your own little sweet stories, thank you. [smile].”

Although it was a gay-themed movie, in the end, they portrayed the relationship as brotherly love in the context of a socialist society. However, the more vaguely and ambiguously they portrayed the relationship, the more it stirred people’s imagination.

There was no need to lead the netizens on too much, as they already imagined all sorts of things. The film oozed with sweetness in the beginning. Only, when the bad guy regained his memory and shot his buddy, the good guy wasn’t the only fool. It shattered the audience’s hearts.

It was the beauty of a good tragedy.

‘The Scam’ received raving reviews and Pei Zhen’s market value soared.

The netizens seem to accept Pei Zhen’s coming out, and they were paying attention to him again. Perhaps some of the fans that he had lost in the beginning had even returned and re-established their interest in him. On Weibo, the netizens were crying ‘Daddy is so dashing’.

Once more, advertisers stirred. As long as one was generating traffic for their brands, they didn’t care about your sexual orientation—it wasn’t criminal to be gay. Even the country had no national stand, who were the keyboard heroes to pass judgments?

Pei Zhen was actively taking up sponsorship deals again.

Of course, that made Xiao Nian happy. He flipped through the schedule. “Pei Pei, a global chain selling fried chicken has approached us and invited you to be their spokesperson. Do you want to take this up? I think there’s no harm.”

Pei Zhen was finally not slacking and yawning on the sofa. The dart in his hand flew towards the dartboard with a swoosh. “Yes, take it up.”

“There’s a Republican era spy movie—the director, Wang Zheng, is one with a conscience.”

“And there’s more. The National Television has invited you to play a part in a public service announcement.”

“National Television?” Pei Zhen paused. He had already thrown the dart, and it hit the bull’s eye right in the center. “Public Service announcement?”

Xiao Nian lamented, saying, “That’s right, it is indeed national level. While it’s great, the fees they are offering are peanuts!”

Pei Zhen chuckled.

Was the point all about the fees?!

He almost rolled his eyes. He stopped his game and took the public service announcement script from Xiao Nian.

“It has to do with stray cats and dogs.” Xiao Nian briefed Pei Zhen dutifully. “Pei Pei, do you remember the time you fought off the dog thieves, as well as the time you heroically tackled the dog abuser?”

“I was a freaking cat at that time!” Pei Zhen said.