Dec. 27th, 2022 at 1:12 PM
During the years he was in the Investigations Department, aside from chatting about cases and work, the most discussed topic in his team was gossip about Yan Chenli. Among these, the most unreasonable was a rumour that there were two male hosts at an escort shop downtown who relied on cosplaying as Yan Chenli as their selling point to solicit clients, some colleagues even suggested organising a group excursion, and multiple people agreed.
Although this won’t show up on the main text, there’s a story behind those brief words… This is that male prostitute that cosplays as Yan Chenli ↓ [TN: Don’t expect a fleshed-out narrative, this is more like a story told through bullet points, but I really liked it so here it is]
The story goes roughly like this: When Shen Lu was still in the Investigations Department, he heard his colleagues mention there was a male prostitute who cosplayed as Yan Chenli, and he was very curious, so he would sometimes go to the bar on that street and hang out.
There would be many solicitors on the street, so Shen Lu could only pretend to be deaf and blind.
He went to hang around a few times, but came back empty handed.
Until finally one day! Shen Lu ran into one of the Yan Chenli imitators.
There are two Yan Chenli imitators, so let’s call this one Aka.
Aka was a Yan Chenli imitator with relatively poor performance, he was smoking by the side of the road while soliciting, and just so happened to bump into Shen Lu.
Shen Lu just stared at him.
Normally Shen Lu wouldn’t dare stare at Yan Chenli, but although this escort resembled him, his temperament was different, so his psychological pressure was not that great. Aka had followed after the main one and dyed his hair red, but he wore gaudy jewellery like stud earrings, rings, and necklaces, he was in the lowest rung among the prostitutes and had never read any books, so his taste was not that good anyway.
(The 2nd picture is what he looks like) [TN: Link to the post.]
Aka discovered Shen Lu kept staring at him and boldly stepped forward to take his arm in a too-familiar way, saying:
Uncle, do you want to buy me a drink?
First-time customers get a discount, it’s very cheap
As long as its more than a hundred
Shen Lu didn’t speak, but he didn’t refuse either, so Aka put his arms around his shoulders and pulled him into the shop.
Afterwards, the surroundings in the prostitute shop were pitch-black, the music was deafening, and there would be champagne calls from time to time
Shen Lu left just three minutes after going in
Saying it was too loud
Aka followed him, trying to persuade him: At least we can chat for an hour yeah? Don’t be in a hurry to leave
Shen Lu asked: Can I just sit on the curb for a minute?
Aka’s business was very sparse and fragmented, he didn’t have other customers to speak of, so he said fine, outside is fine
Afterwards, the two people looked for a bench nearby and sat down.
Aka tried his hardest to chat with Shen Lu, wanting to find out Shen Lu’s occupation and socio-economic status to figure out how much money he could conveniently squeeze out of him.
: Your clothes are very nice ah, your tie is very nice, your watch is very nice, what brand is it? where did you buy it? when do you have time to rest huh? is work tiring? what’s your boss like?
Shen Lu didn’t utter a word.
Aka was a professional at awkward conversations, but he rarely saw someone as unmoveable as Shen Lu, and before long Aka began to wonder whether he was being annoying by talking too much.
He was a little dispirited
There’s nothing to talk about
He thought to himself, I can’t pull in new customers, and I can’t keep old customers either
He felt sadness welling up from within
Shen Lu sat upright and didn’t speak
Aka fell into depression, slumping crookedly on the bench
Aka: Sigh I messed up again, I don’t wanna do this anymore.jpg
(The two people are in the same position as the 3rd picture)
When the time came, Aka went through the motions and asked Shen Lu for his contact details
Shen Lu actually gave them to him
What a surprise
Since he got his contact details, Aka then continued following the business routine like a professional escort.
Every day: Good morning, what are you doing? this is what I made for breakfast, it’s going to be cold today so remember to wear more clothes, are you off work? was work tiring today? see you tomorrow, good morning, how are you?
There was no news from Shen Lu whatsoever, he never replied
Aka was sending these messages out en masse anyway, so he would keep sending them unless he was blocked by the other person. This persistent harassment continued for several days, until Shen Lu finally replied with one sentence:
[Don’t send unnecessary messages, you’ll interrupt my work]
On Shen Lu’s side, he worked well, and every time the phone would light up, he’d look at it and think: What are you telling me this for? Let it go.
A repetitive cycle.
Seeing that the other side’s tone was somewhat serious, Aka didn’t dare to disturb him often and gave in.
One night a few days later, Aka once again slipped out to have a smoke while at work.
Coming up the stairs from the underground bar, he saw Shen Lu waiting for him under the street lights
Instinct drove him to solicit him again: Mr. Shen, buy me a drink
Shen Lu: It’s too loud inside, can we sit out here?
Aka discussed it with his boss. The Boss: You can’t pull other customers anyway, go.
But charge him the fee according to the bar
After that, Aka swindled him into ordering drinks
Shen Lu finished looking at the menu and ordered a few, saying: I’ll pay, but you don’t need to bring the drinks up, your shop’s liquor is not good
At first, the shop thought that would make them look like a scam, so they would still place it next to him, but he never opened it
Shen Lu still didn’t say anything. Aka chatted awkwardly for an hour, feeling like this client was really stubborn, until he finally gave up and stopped trying
After that, they continued to sit in mutual silence
When they were done, they went inside the shop to settle the bill
It had also been an hour
The first time, the bill was one hundred
The second time, the bill was one thousand
The black-hearted escort shop routine!
Just one cup of sake, then keeping him company for an hour, then being sent out by the escort in the end
Shen Lu paid the bill honestly, he didn’t seem surprised
After that Aka’s hopes were raised again, and he felt invested again, so he began to disturb him with multiple messages again
In the end, he was once again educated by Shen Lu
He felt hopeless again
But after that, Shen Lu began looking for him at relatively regular fixed intervals
He would meet Aka almost twice in one month
He still didn’t say anything, and didn’t drink liquor from the shop
Aka felt that this person was really baffling
Later, after turning into a frequent visitor, the two people moved from the chairs by the side of the street to restaurants and cafés
Shen Lu still didn’t open his mouth, sometimes Aka would simply sleep inside the coffee shop and he didn’t seem to mind
It turned into something that was like paying him to take a break
Later, Shen Lu would also bring his own things
Books, notebooks, work, etc.
Aka would lay to the side with nothing to do, not even trying anymore, and Shen Lu would quietly work off to the other side
Aka seemed to be half-illiterate, he never understood what the hell Shen Lu’s job was
Shen Lu’s qualifications had gone up and his specialised field was very important, so his income was pretty good
On weekends or holidays, he would contract Aka for the whole day
Once Aka caught a cold, but he just so happened to have been ordered by Shen Lu, but thinking he was just going to go and sleep anyway, he got up dizzily and went
When they met, he was wearing a mask, sneezing and sniffling
Shen Lu lifted his hand to feel his forehead, and brought him to the hospital to get an IV drip
He was still completely silent
Aka slumped on the IV drip chair, Shen Lu paid for the medical bills and came back, he touched the wrist that had the IV drip and felt it was a little cold, so he went out to buy a small blanket and came back to cover him with it, even pouring him a cup of hot water and placing it in his hands
Aka turned his head to look at his surroundings, it was all families taking care of their sick loved ones
Afterwards, Shen Lu sat upright on an empty chair next to him, pulling out a book and beginning to flip through it. The pages of the book were filled with brown and dark green notes, filled with neat writing
Aka leaned back against the chair and watched Shen Lu’s face, looked at the book Shen Lu was reading, and then looked at Shen Lu’s face again
Since he’d dropped out of school very early, he couldn’t understand a lot of words
Aka leaned back against the chair and looked around for a while, saying: I’m surprised big cities have a place especially for IV drips, I’ve never come before
When he got sick in the past he had no choice but to deal with it alone
Afterwards, he spoke about how he didn’t like going to school when he was a child, and he dreamed of the big cities he saw in the movies, so he came to Yinjiang. The bars in red-light district seemed to have a lot of rich people, so he dreamed of earning a fortune
He thought he had a pretty good face and could be a big celebrity, but didn’t succeed, so he settled for the next best thing and went into the bar to become a host
Everyday he would dream of being scouted on his way to work, of making a popular movie, and of being well-off
In the end, he had no chance at all. Even as a prostitute he was in the bottom rungs
Ever since one of his clients told him he really looked like a certain big name in the Criminal Investigation Bureau, he’d tried to deliberately imitate his appearance, and his performance improved
But after the novelty had passed, those clients didn’t want him any more
They all said he was too different from the original one
After that he said: Luckily you weren’t the type to come and try the replacement
Otherwise, you would have also been completely disappointed long ago and left
Shen Lu didn’t turn the pages of his book for a very long time
After that, Aka began to unbalancedly spout off
What’s so good about the original one? Wasn’t he just reincarnated into a good family with a lot of money? If I had a great car or a famous watch I could also have beautiful women throwing themselves at me
Shen Lu turned his head to look at him indifferently as he heard this
His face was expressionless
Aka himself was also stunned
He immediately apologised and said it was a joke
He said he shouldn’t complain in front of clients, that it would affect the client’s mood
He said he felt too at ease when he was with Shen Lu, and that he often forgot that he was actually still working
Shen Lu gave him a hard to come by response, but he only said: It’s fine
You can say whatever you want in front of me
Aka’s eyes shone like stars as he smiled and said ok ok ok good
I’ve always felt that you’re different from everyone else, I feel like you’ll always keep me company
Shen Lu continued reading his book without answering
Aka moved close to him and leaned against his shoulder
He fell asleep
When Aka’s IV drip finished, he was still a bit groggy from the antyphyretics, so he was in a daze
Shen Lu drove and took him back home
He stuffed him inside the quilts, and put some ice on his forehead, pulling the window curtains closed to block the light
He himself went to the small desk by the side and annotated a book
Aka’s fever had declined a lot by dusk, and he woke up again
He rubbed against the soft quilt for a while
Afterwards, he leaned against the pillow and watched Shen Lu
He was annotating a book under the warm light, and he got an elegant view of Lulu’s charming, tall and straight profile
Aka looked around, the room was arranged stylishly, with a steady colour, just like the person himself
Shen Lu annotated for a while, and when the time came to check the other’s temperature, he turned around and discovered Aka was awake
He checked his temperature, and the fever had basically gone, so he helped him up to eat
Shen Lu cooked some seafood congee
They ate together at the dining table, the two people didn’t say anything, and Aka snuck a few glances at him
After they finished eating, Shen Lu picked up the dishes and washed them, Aka followed next to him and watched him from beginning to end
After Shen Lu washed the dishes, he said I’ll take you back
Aka said: Isn’t it still early? It’s not time yet
Shen Lu oh’d and had no opinion, going back to continue annotating his book
Aka turned around the room, looking at his bookshelves and the cello
: You can play an instrument?
Shen Lu: Not very well.
Aka insisted on listening
Shen Lu obediently put down his book, sat on the loft, and played a song
This one
(It’s over, I feel like it wouldn’t make sense for Aka not to fall in love with Shen Lu
Who could stand this?
When I was originally thinking about it I just had a bit of a good feeling
This feeling I’m speaking of is deep enthusiasm)
After he finished playing, Shen Lu put down his instrument, then got up and said: It’s very late, I’ll take you back
Aka also stood up, moved close to him and said: I’ll spend the night here
Shen Lu: ?
Aka dragged him by the tie, pulling him onto the sofa, and Shen Lu fell as he was caught unprepared
Aka knelt over him and lowered his head to kiss him
But he failed, and was pushed away by Shen Lu: What are you doing?!
Aka took off his clothes: You’ve spent so much money on me, don’t tell me you don’t want to do this kind of thing?
Shen Lu frowned and said no
Aka continued moving his hands, grabbing Shen Lu’s clothes and also pulling at them
While asking: Then what the hell do you want to do? What do you want me to do?
A scuffle, attempting to force him
He’d be damned if he could beat him, Shen Lu was 1.91m tall and a proper cop at the Investigations Department, so he pressed him down after a little while
Aka, who had his arms twisted and was pressed into the sofa like a criminal being arrested, yelled out in pain
Shen Lu let go, and stood by the side to tidy up his own messy clothes, Aka massaged his arms and curled up into the side of the sofa, wanting to cry and feeling aggrieved
Shen Lu grabbed him and straightened him out, also tidying up his clothes
Aka felt aggrieved and muttered: What the hell do you want from me
Shen Lu fell silent for a moment, saying
: I’m telling you, it’s impossible.
Aka asked him again, but he didn’t say anything else
He dragged Aka up, stuffed him into the car, and resolutely drove him to his house
A dilapidated small rental, with things piled up in a horrible mess
Shen Lu’s head hurt just from looking at it
Aka looked at him and acted coy: Then you help me tidy up
Shen Lu replied: You’re an adult.
Turned around, and left
(My god my set-up is so long, I clearly just wanted to write something short, why didn’t I
I’m not writing any more, reconsider!!)
