God is Being Pampered by the Group - Chapter 3

Chapter 3: I See Great Star Potential in You

The Illegal Resident Issue

“Hey, have you arrived yet? Why don’t I see you? Do you just not want the job? How dare you be late and make a whole crowd of people wait for you alone?! I’m telling you, if you don’t want to do it, there are plenty of people waiting.”

“In that case, my apologies. Please find someone more capable.”

“What? You actually dare to speak to me like that? You’re nothing but a one-time stunt double!”

Guan Zhou hung up the phone immediately, returning peace to the world.

If it had been half an hour ago, he might have already arrived at the film set, perhaps stopping along the way to drop the silver-haired beauty he picked up last night off at a police station for a chat. But now, compared to the matter of Bai Yan, nothing else mattered.

Furthermore, just as the person on the other end of the line had roared, it was merely a one-time stunt performance acting out a scene of falling from a tall building.

Besides that, he had long been sick of that director’s attitude, acting as if he were high and mighty and as if his appreciation for others’ hard work was an act of charity. Therefore, there was a ninety percent chance that the movie the man was filming would inevitably be another piece of trash.

Guan Zhou grumbled inwardly.

Bai Yan sat on the indoor sofa, his silver hair flowing like a smooth waterfall down his back. He had heard the conversation between Guan Zhou and the other person out on the balcony perfectly. Seeing him return from the balcony, Bai Yan slightly raised his eyes.

“It seems I’ve messed up your job?”

Guan Zhou waved his hand. “It’s got nothing to do with you.”

All this time, he had been acting humble just to get a few shots on screen; this time, he finally let out a long-overdue breath of frustration. He felt refreshed all over.

He grabbed a baseball cap from the wall and pulled it over Bai Yan’s head, slightly obscuring that eye-catching silver hair. Seeing his slightly surprised expression, Guan Zhou couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Let’s go. I’m taking you to handle some ‘official business’.”

As for what that “official business” was when Bai Yan walked into a glamorous shopping mall and faced the enthusiastic recommendations of the sales clerks, he couldn’t help but glance sideways at the inexplicably excited Guan Zhou.

At this moment, Bai Yan was wearing Guan Zhou’s clothes. Because his frame was slightly smaller, they didn’t fit well; the sleeves and pant legs were a bit too long.

Bai Yan had long been aware of the changes in himself. When his power was suppressed, his outward age seemed to become younger as well.

After changing into a new outfit highly recommended by the sales clerk, Bai Yan stepped out of the fitting room. He distinctly heard several gasps and sighs of admiration from the salesgirls gathered nearby.

Looking at Bai Yan, Guan Zhou also nodded, then gave a grand wave of his hand. “How much?”

The salesclerk smiled and spat out a string of numbers.

Guan Zhou’s expression froze instantly.

In the end, however, Guan Zhou still bore the pain of parting with his money and bought the outfit. In addition, he bought three other sets of clothes in different colors. After this massive “bloodletting,” his wallet shrunk instantly, leaving Guan Zhou in a state of painful joy.

Bai Yan, who actually didn’t care what he wore: “…” I reasonably suspect there’s something wrong with your head.

Passing by a phone store, Guan Zhou bought a mobile phone for Bai Yan.

Bai Yan toyed with the “mobile phone,” which was only slightly thicker than a card. From this point, he could clearly feel the difference between this world and the Earth of two lifetimes ago; the level of technology was more than just a few percentage points higher.

But the poor remained poor, and the rich remained very rich. Office workers were still busy from nine to six. The gap between rich and poor had not improved much despite the changes in the environment.

Leaving the mall, Guan Zhou took Bai Yan to a restaurant. Even though there were only two of them, he asked for a private room.

A private room meant good privacy, suitable for discussing certain sensitive issues.

However, Guan Zhou didn’t explain much to Bai Yan. He simply ordered a table full of food first and intended to teach Bai Yan how to use the “phone.” But he quickly discovered he had no room to show off his skills, which made him quite dejected.

“Actually, I’ve been wanting to ask, is the writing on your side the same as in our world?”

Last night, seeing Bai Yan holding that history book, he thought he was just flipping through it out of curiosity. But now, seeing the fluency with which he operated the phone, Guan Zhou highly suspected he could understand the prompts on it.

“You can consider it a minor skill of mine,” Bai Yan replied calmly.

Guan Zhou’s eye twitched slightly. It was obviously a perfunctory answer. But Guan Zhou remembered the cup that stayed suspended in mid-air this morning, as if an incredible power was holding it up to prevent it from falling.

Guan Zhou knew that this silver-haired beauty from another world possessed certain abilities that science could not explain.

Since he said so, Guan Zhou could only accept it as such.

A dozen minutes after this small interlude, just as the dishes were all served, the door to the private room suddenly opened from the outside. A man walked in; it seemed he was an acquaintance of Guan Zhou.

“It’s rare to see you treating me to a meal, Governor.”

The man’s name was Qiu Chiyi. He had been Guan Zhou’s classmate for four years at university and was a brother from the same dormitory. Their relationship was naturally good. Although they were both in the acting department, Qiu Chiyi did not follow the path of the entertainment industry after graduation; instead, he put on a police uniform and became a police officer.

“Governor” was the nickname the roommates had for Guan Zhou, because his name (Guan Zhou) sounded too much like “Governor of a State” (Zhouchang).

“Not at all, not at all. I just saw how busy you are with important matters, and I didn’t have the heart to disturb your great work of serving the people.”

“And now you have the heart?”

The two looked at each other and burst into laughter simultaneously. The distance of several years vanished in an instant.

Guan Zhou greeted him, “Come, come, this big table of food was specially prepared for you. Don’t be polite.”

“Drop it. Out with it you don’t offer favors for no reason.”

Qiu Chiyi sat down. His peripheral vision swept over the young man sitting next to Guan Zhou wearing a baseball cap and looking down at a phone. His gaze lingered for two seconds on the few tufts of silver hair that were visible.

Guan Zhou sighed and said, “Alright, seeing as you’re so sharp, I do indeed need your help with something.”

He introduced Bai Yan. “This is a distant cousin of mine. He’s in his rebellious phase and had a fight with his family. He lost his identification info on the way to find me. You work at the police station, so just do me a small favor.”

Qiu Chiyi snorted, his eyes full of disbelief. “You have a cousin? How come I didn’t know?”

“That’s why I said he’s a distant cousin! Will you help or not? One word!”

Qiu Chiyi didn’t answer directly. Instead, he said leisurely, “Do you know which department I’m in?”

Guan Zhou looked bewildered. “Aren’t you just a cop, eating from the national bowl?”

“…Forget it. If you don’t want to explain the details, I won’t ask too much. Processing identification info for your ‘distant cousin,’ right? Fine, no problem. A small matter.”

Qiu Chiyi propped up his chin, his gaze slanting toward Bai Yan.

This gaze fell upon Bai Yan, feeling as tangible as a physical weight that couldn’t be ignored. At the same time, Bai Yan was clearly aware of one thing: this man had obviously sensed something; he just wasn’t asking too many questions for Guan Zhou’s sake.

Very sharp. He had an eagle-like insight, judging in just a few sentences that Guan Zhou might be lying and hiding something.

Moreover, Bai Yan slightly raised his eyes, making contact with the other’s gaze before breaking it off. From this man, there was a faint scent of blood, indicating he had lived on his hands. What he had just said to Guan Zhou about “which department” he was in was worth reflecting on.

Seeing Qiu Chiyi agree, Guan Zhou seemed very happy. He told the other man some of Bai Yan’s information.

“His name is Bai Yan. As for age… twenty years old. Home address…”

Guan Zhou rattled off a string of place names at random; they might have been a pre-prepared story.

Qiu Chiyi nodded, indicating he had noted it down.

Finally, Guan Zhou grinned. “…I’ll send you a one-inch photo of him later. Thanks, brother.”

Qiu Chiyi gave a casual wave of his hand.

By now, he had clearly seen Bai Yan’s appearance. He was slightly stunned, though he quickly returned to normal.

With the biggest problem of being an “illegal resident” solved, Guan Zhou was in high spirits and invited Qiu Chiyi to eat. They talked about things from their school days; by the end of the meal, both guest and host were happy.

However, something neither big nor small happened when they were leaving the restaurant.

As the host, Guan Zhou was naturally responsible for settling the bill. Bai Yan and Qiu Chiyi stepped out of the restaurant first to wait for him.

There was a three-meter gap between them. Standing on either side of the restaurant entrance like two door gods, they didn’t communicate, looking like two strangers.

But Bai Yan clearly felt the other’s gaze slanting over secretly; it felt like observation, and also like an investigation.

At that moment, a sneaky-looking figure walked toward Bai Yan. But before he could get close, his shoulder was suddenly pressed down by Qiu Chiyi, forcing him to stop. Qiu Chiyi smiled:

“Is there something, pal?”

This was a middle-aged man, half a head shorter than Qiu Chiyi. Facing Qiu Chiyi’s smile, he only felt a wave of pressure hitting him. A few drops of cold sweat slid down his forehead first, and he gave a forced laugh.

“So you two know each other, haha.”

He glanced at Bai Yan, who was looking over, then at the tall and sturdy Qiu Chiyi. He hurriedly pulled a business card from his pocket and said:

“I am a talent scout from XX Company. This is my card. I see this young brother has great potential to be a star, so [blablabla]…”

By this time, Guan Zhou had finished paying and walked out. He took the card, took one look, and his brow instantly furrowed. Before the other man could finish his long-winded speech, he waved his hand to interrupt.

“Alright, we know. But I’m sorry, my cousin still has to study. Thank you for your kindness. Goodbye!”

The words were quick and seamless, leaving the other man no chance to argue. By the time the middle-aged man snapped out of it, the three of them were already far away, including the “star material” he had scouted.

Then, he watched helplessly as his business card was casually tossed into a trash can by Guan Zhou.