55 5.1

Under the protection of General Hou and General Jin, the Federation progressed to become the undisputed leading power of the surrounding galaxies, the balance between its military and political branches sustained its success beyond its neighbors, which gravitated toward extreme governance styles.

Through more than a hundred years, the couple remained treasured figures to the public, their fandom only increased as the two were always spotted together with General Hou's eyes constantly following his other half. The pair was said to be so possessive of each other that they even refused to combine their genes to form an heir, preferring to cultivate a sensible cadet instead. But finally, even the naturally longer lifespan of this world came to an end.

Knowing that his lover couldn't bear to watch him go first, Chen Yu sat next to the dying Hou Yi and locked their wrinkled fingers together, listening to the unsteady breaths gasping in and out. Blindly twisting his head, Hou Yi smiled, rasping, "Ah Guang, Ah Guang."

Chen Yu tenderly wiped away the tears that had slipped down Ah Yi's cheeks. "En, I'm here."

His voice as steady as if he could get up and walk, Hou Yi mused, "I always thought that since you're my bright star, I'll be your shadow, but now I realize that if that's the case, we'll forever be separated. I don't want it to be like that..."

Throat tight, Chen Yu murmured, "Ah Yi, you've had it wrong from the beginning...no, that doesn't matter, I promise I'll join you soon." Embracing the still warm body, he kissed Hou Yi's chin and closed his eyes.

---

Once Chen Yu returned to the system space, he rushed through absorbing the mission reward, concerned that his lover wouldn't be able to follow him if he delayed. Reminding himself that they'd located each other before even after he'd rested for a long time, however, he calmed himself down and nodded to the system's perfunctory question on whether to transfer him to the next task.

Now, he found himself facing a man dressed in ancient robes, thrusting a sword straight at him. During the split second before he could sort through the original owner's memories, he reflexively dashed forward to meet the attack and leapt up to knee his opponent in the chest, one arm reaching out to shove the sword away. By the time he'd crushed the other man to the ground, he'd grasped that this body was an actor, making him secretly curse. Damn it, apparently Jin Yongguang's habits hadn't been entirely erased yet.

At the beautifully executed strikes, a tall, elegant man, who had been neutrally watching the filming with his chin propped on his chin, narrowed his eyes, gazing thoughtfully at the actor who had caused his heart to jump as if in familiarity.

A minute of dumbfounded silence later, the director who hadn't completely woken up from his shock dazedly yelled, "Cut!" and, without another glance at Chen Yu, called for a break. The man Chen Yu had been kneeling on also tapped on him impatiently to signal that he should get up, not bothering to speak. While the crew similarly didn't comment on Chen Yu's mistake, their expressions twisted in disdain at the performer who'd gone so off script.

Busy with adapting to the habits of the original owner, who tended to have an expressionless face, Chen Yu ignored the odd behavior of the people around him, he quietly dipped his chin to communicate an apology and headed toward the common dressing room to consider the plot. This seemed to be a danmei story with a protagonist, Guo Ziyue, who was reincarnated, then, having face-slapped anyone who had harmed him before, rose to the top of the entertainment industry.

In his first life, Guo Ziyue had fallen in love at first sight with a senior at M Country's famous Central Drama College, of course this partner was the original owner of Chen Yu's body, Xiang Kai. For this man, the protagonist, whose influential parents had passed away and left him a great deal of assets, gave up his dreams of being an actor and instead enrolled in a business school in order to support his sweetheart. Despite his years of effort, however, Xiang Kai remained as cold as ever, even abandoning him to marry an heiress. Post-wedding, while wandering around in a haze, Guo Ziyue had died in a car accident.

Unexpectedly, his death wasn't the end, he was reborn in the past on the day he was scheduled to start attending Central Drama College. This time around, he steeled himself, he would reach the pinnacle of the industry and get revenge for his past life.

For this purpose, he pretended to be infatuated with Xiang Kai again, going so far as to use his connections to get him into M Country's top entertainment company, Fanxing Entertainment Group. But once Xiang Kai signed the contract, he was thoroughly suppressed, even the auditions he could take were limited. Years passed in this way, he was forced to stand aside as his junior climbed far above him, until at last he caught a lucky break, he was given a minor role in a commercial film.

Unfortunately, on the day of the press conference for the cast, a reporter brought up evidence of Xiang Kai's immoral dealings with investors and producers, demanding to know how the director could dirty the audience's eyes by using someone so filthy. Thereafter, not only was Xiang Kai's reputation irreparably ruined, but also, he was so traumatized that he couldn't even perform anymore. The Guo Ziyue who had successfully exacted his revenge moved on from his first love, sorting through various suitors and ultimately choosing the CEO of Fanxing Entertainment Group as his devoted shou.

Currently, it seemed that Chen Yu had arrived when Xiang Kai had just fallen for Guo Ziyue's scheme to trap him in Fanxing, which explained the staff's ambivalent attitude toward him. He was in the awkward position of claiming a position at M Country's biggest entertainment giant yet simultaneously being clearly sidelined, he even had to lower himself to play a servant who appeared for one scene then died to protect his master. Therefore, everyone from the director down to the runners ran hot and cold in their treatment of him, especially when confronted with Xiang Kai's indifferent look.

Chen Yu hummed. The original owner truly had a body made of wood and a heart made of stone, the sole interest he had was acting. Actually, Xiang Kai and Jin Yongguang were quite similar, except that on the surface, one appeared dull while the other appeared bright.

Nevertheless, the original owner had been a good actor, as soon as the cameras started rolling, he would perfectly portray his characters. It was just a pity that he had a smart face but dumb innards, to be tricked so easily.

As for Guo Ziyue, Chen Yu sneered. With Xiang Kai's personality, it was likely that he had callously taken advantage of anything that could boost his acting career, but he wouldn't have actively encouraged anything. So, objectively speaking, Guo Ziyue had become infatuated by himself, sacrificed his ambition by himself, gotten retribution by himself, he was really too ridiculous to dwell on, except that those obsessive tendencies made Chen Yu hesitate. Could the protagonist be his lover?

Although the idea wasn't pleasant, he decided to hold off on any plans until he could judge for sure. Stepping back out of the dressing room, he kept a blank face on, wordlessly moving toward his designated starting place. But the instant the filming started, he seemed to turn into a different person, exuding nothing but concern for his master, desperation to stall for time, and ultimately, acceptance of his inevitable death. Despite how short the scene was, the onlookers all felt that it left a far greater impact than one with the main characters, they were desperate to see more!

The moment the director cut off the cameras, however, Chen Yu resumed his wooden mask, bowing to the other actors and staff then heading to pick up his bag. Fanxing hadn't even assigned him a manager, so he would have to take public transportation back home. Along the way, he noticed the actor who was playing the hero of this film, Sun Ri. Indeed, worthy of being called the king of actors, the man looked to be over 190 centimeters tall, with perfectly proportioned features.

But this Sun Ri was of interest to Chen Yu not due to his position in the entertainment world, but rather due to the fact that he was the legal guardian of the protagonist, he'd inherited the duty from his father, who had been a close friend of Guo Ziyue's parents. Whereas in his first life Guo Ziyue had kept a distance from this man, after he'd been reborn and resolved to become a star, he clung to this big thigh with all his might, by now their relationship should be slightly ambiguous.

Of course, it couldn't progress much further. For one thing, Guo Ziyue was a gong, Sun Ri was as well and had simply been misled into believing that they played compatible parts. More importantly, the protagonist's love interest had to have a high enough status to match his god-given halo after all, Sun Ri had been discarded as a mere actor in the end.

Removing his attention, Chen Yu curled his lips and passed by.