Chapter 33: This Guy Zhou Jielun Is Reliable

That night, Zhou Yi, bloated from eating, dreamed a ridiculous dream of wine pools and meat forests.

Fan Rongrong, Gao Yuanyuan, and Jia Jingwen all played "Catch Me If You Can" with him, while a Korean girl named Qiu Cixuan fed him grapes on the side.

He ate with great relish.

Then, as Emperor, he ignored Empress Diaochan's objections, waved his hand, and enfeoffed them all as kings, granting them territories.

Huh?

Enfeoffing them as kings?

As Zhou Yi's dream of the foolish emperor grew stranger, thunder seemed to crackle in his mind; the next instant, he blinked open his sleepy eyes—

The alarm clock on the brown nightstand was still dutifully ticking; irritated, Zhou Yi slapped its button, and the thunder in his dream instantly ceased.

"Fuck, why do people have to go to work."

After burying his head under the pillow for nearly ten minutes, Zhou Yi finally struggled out of bed, yawning as he turned off the air conditioner.

He checked the time—it was already past eight.

The barbecue roundtable had dragged on until the early hours, so he'd slept several hours later than usual and woke up reluctantly.

Thinking of the pile of songs waiting to be arranged and mixed, and the dancing lessons he still had to attend, Zhou Yi wished he could split himself in two.

Since his rebirth, this was the first time he'd felt that same busyness from his past life.

But the money he could earn was clearly far more than the mindless hustle of his past life.

Zhou Yi, still in his pajamas, yawned into the bathroom to wash up; halfway through brushing his teeth, the doorbell rang—

"Who is it?"

"Zhou Yi, it's Jielun."

Outside, Zhou Jielun's unmistakable voice came through; Zhou Yi, toothbrush still in his mouth, walked out to open the door, surprised to see the man standing there with two breakfast boxes.

"I figured you hadn't eaten yet, so when I went down to buy food, I brought you one too," said Zhou Jielun, holding up the boxes with a smile, their relationship having grown somewhat familiar.

Warner had rented Zhou Yi's apartment on the same floor and same building as Liu Genhong's purchase—this was why Zhou Yi had previously stumbled upon the gas leak.

Currently, Zhou Jielun was so broke he couldn't even afford to flirt properly; he ate, drank, relieved himself, and slept mostly either at Wu Zongxian's Alpha Company or at Liu Genhong's place.

After all, though Liu Genhong had gradually faded from fame, he was still an artist who needed to appear on shows, and his home sat empty anyway; as long as his girlfriend wasn't visiting, it was basically Zhou Jielun's residence.

"Thanks, how much do I owe you?"

"No need, it's just breakfast."

As Zhou Yi stepped aside to let him into the living room, Zhou Jielun placed the breakfast on the coffee table and shook his head, then glanced at Zhou Yi's bare upper body and teased: "Didn't notice yesterday—you've got six-pack abs. Nice physique."

"Sharp eyes."

Zhou Yi, having quickly washed up, gave him a thumbs-up: "Guess I'll have to tone down my workouts."

"?"

Zhou Jielun blinked: "Why? Isn't this physique great?"

"Moderate fitness attracts the opposite sex; excessive fitness attracts the same sex."

Zhou Yi, grabbing a white T-shirt from the sofa and pulling it on, sat down cheerfully: "I consider my sexual orientation perfectly normal."

"..."

Zhou Jielun, unable to keep up with Zhou Yi's erratic thinking, fell utterly silent, finally offering a stiff explanation: "Uh, Zhou Yi, I'm not gay."

He was never good with words, and facing Zhou Yi—a social terror who spoke without filter—he was simply outmatched.

"Ah, just kidding."

Zhou Yi pried open a pair of disposable chopsticks and waved him off: "Don't you have to go to work? How do you have time to come here?"

"No, I just write songs at the company. My previous project was the demo for 'Hell Angel'—finished it, then got hit by the gas poisoning incident."

After a slightly embarrassed nod, Zhou Jielun's mood sank as he spoke of his situation.

His current cash reserves were probably only slightly higher than Zhang Shaohan's—wait, no, Zhang Shaohan sang on two songs and filmed two MVs; his savings might already be higher.

Seeing that little Zhou still showed no signs of debuting, Zhou Yi tentatively suggested: "You can write your own songs already. Since you've got nothing else to do, why not apply to debut with your company?"

To his surprise, Zhou Jielun waved his hands frantically: "Xian Ge says I can't sing, my vocal style is weird, and I'd never go viral if I debuted."

"Not bad—I think your vocal stamina's strong. Why not apply and try? Look at me—I'm self-taught too; I got into music originally just to pick up girls."

"..."

Zhou Jielun, who secretly harbored a singer's dream, visibly stirred—but after a moment's hesitation, his expression dimmed again.

He'd sung before, but every attempt had been rejected.

Zhou Yi was about to say more when his phone suddenly rang—

He pulled it out and saw clearly: Watching Xiao Yaxuan.

"Hey, what do you want so early in the morning?"

"Of course to hang out—free today?"

"Technically, I'm supposed to be busy—I just finished filming an MV yesterday, and today I need to check on post-production at the company."

Zhou Yi slurped his noodles carelessly.

"Really? You don't strike me as a good kid. The bad boy who doesn't listen—that's you. Think it over? Come downstairs if you've decided."

"?"

Zhou Yi paused mid-slurp, then seemed to realize something—he walked to the balcony and looked down: a woman with long hair, wearing a baseball cap, sunglasses, and a mask, stood beside the flowerbed below, waving at him as soon as she saw his gaze.

Confused, Zhou Jielun thought something was wrong, dropped his bowl, and hurried to the balcony—just in time to see Watching Xiao Yaxuan waving at Zhou Yi.

"You really aren't afraid of being recognized, Watching Xiao Yaxuan," Zhou Yi laughed, leaning on the railing.

Hearing the name, Zhou Jielun's small eyes widened—he suddenly remembered the recent gossip splashed across entertainment sections of every newspaper.

"What, are you scared?"

"You might regret saying that."

After saying that, Zhou Yi hung up the phone, turned around, and called out to Jay Chou, who was still in shock: "Jay, someone is looking for me, so I'll head out now. Here are the keys; please lock the door when you leave later and just leave them under the doormat."

"Huh? What? No, that—"

Snapping out of it, Jay Chou hurriedly reached out to catch the keys Zhou Yi tossed at him as he turned to leave, wanting to say something but holding back.

An hour later, Jay Chou, who had already arrived at Alpha for work, received a call from Stefanie Sun.

"Jay, do you know where Zhou Yi went? I called him but he didn't answer, he didn't reply to my messages, and I haven't seen him at the company."

"... Uh, I hadn't had barbecue in a while, so I ate too much last night and got an upset stomach; it's acute gastroenteritis. Zhou Yi took me to the hospital for treatment. You know, we live on the same floor."

"Then he also helped me organize my move, so he probably didn't notice the phone."

Thinking of how familiar Stefanie Sun and Zhou Yi had acted yesterday, Jay Chou, unsure of the situation, quickly hid in a quiet cubicle, paused his tone, and spoke with a slightly weak voice.

"I see. How are you feeling now? Are you okay?" Stefanie Sun on the other end of the line suddenly realized.

"N-no, I'm fine; I feel great now."

After awkwardly stumbling over his words, Jay Chou hung up the phone and immediately called Zhou Yi; it took three attempts before the call was finally answered.

"Jay? What's up?"

Jay Chou promptly explained his excuse to Zhou Yi to get him prepared, then hung up the phone.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yi was left laughing and crying at the same time.

This guy Jay Chou is a real friend; he truly values loyalty.

But he really didn't need to cover for him.