Chapter 2 – A Black Umbrella

Bai Lang and Chou 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 had been given a business card. For Bai Lang who looked clean and good-looking this was not the first time something like this had happened. Every 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 in the future the Bai Lang who had gotten famous would have to repay for him, however at that time it was enough to make the Bai family suffer some pressure.

Thus, Bai Lang's father and mother came to Bai Lang 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, and 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 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. The 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, that he met the VIP customer, Chou Qian.

Chou 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, that there wasn't anyone better looking than Bai Lang. What piqued Chou Qian's interest was the expression of panic and disgust in those eyes which the young man was unable to completely conceal. He wanted to see what it would take to make this young man yield.

However Chou Qian overestimated Bai Lang. After only a few sips of spirits, Bai Lang became dizzy and was able to pushed down by Chou Qian into 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 Chou Qian until he was trembling and humiliated and nearly came inside his pants.

It was Chou Qian who was pressing Bai Lang down who 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 "Total Entertainment". He received a call from a slew of strangers which told him that Total Entertainment's big boss was Chou 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 Chou Qian called personally to ask him, Bai Lang rejected him with a trembling voice. To this Chou 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 Chou Qian would come after him for revenge, however nothing came of it. However all of the 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 has an actor would be at an end.

This was something that Bai Lang could only wish for. The Bai Lang at that time only wanted to fulfill 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. This way it was 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.

In this time 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.

It was completely denying Bai Lang 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. And 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 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 a single father, Jiang XinCheng.

In the drama, although Bai Lang's acting ability was shallow, however his image completely 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 became famous almost overnight.

As the six month long drama "Partners" slowly broadcasted, during this time the company also helped Bai Lang accept many advertisement endorsements. All different types of jobs came his way and further helped push Bai Lang into the road of becoming an actor and after this it was impossible for him to get away.

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.

However afterwards, Bai Li once again had a second business failure. This time Bai Li did not learn from the mistakes of the first time, and after falling in with some unsavory 'friends' and believing he had some insider knowledge, he thought he could invest in an unlisted company and be able to win back a great reward. Thus he borrowed a large sum of money from an underground money lender, and placed it all into this company.

However in the end the insider knowledge he received was only empty air. Thus Bai Li fell into a huge debt. When the underground money lender furiously pursued him to repay the money, the entire Bai family was placed under violent threats of danger. The 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 the storm.

From that day on, the 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 more because Bai Lang had been contracted to endorse several products, however when the news of Bai Li's debts ruined Bai Lang's image, he had repay a much larger damage of defaulting on his contracts. {T/N: Because his contract stipulates that he cannot have any image damaging incidents, or be forced to pay damages.}

And these two incidents of great rises and great falls became like a vicious cycle. And Bai Li continued to ask Bai Lang to help him repay various debts. Thus 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 Chou Qian.

It was Chou 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 to be just 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 proposal which was still valid: to be his kept lover.

After seeing the gentle but stubborn Bai Lang refuse him time after time, it seemed that Chou 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 Chou Qian had created, rather than Kang Jian. That was why he had run over here to accuse Chou 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 Chou 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 Chou Qian. He only remembered Chou Qian's holding the black umbrella, and his anguished profile. That image was like a stamp, 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 time, he knew that his older brother was calling to beg for his help.

After "Partners for Life" broadcasted for two months, Bai Lang had only just signed a few important endorsement contracts. However it was at this time that Bai Li became indebted to the underground lender 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 chose….?

"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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