I Rely on My Versatility to Reach the Top of the Entertainment Industry [Ancient Times to Modern] - Chapter 56

Anyway, there was solid proof now.

Lu Yuzhi stopped worrying about living expenses and smiled broadly as he held Jing Yi’s hand.

“Come home with me for dinner tonight?”

Jing Yi nodded, then crouched down to play with Lu Yi.

Lu Yi purred in his throat, letting Jing Yi pet him while his tail wagged back and forth.

“Fans said the zoo is arranging…” Jing Yi paused, “…a wife for King Kong?”

Lu Yuzhi nodded: “Yes, that’s right. King Kong is the only gorilla at the zoo, and he seems to have entered his mating season recently.”

“Then let’s go see King Kong later.” Jing Yi smiled, then suddenly felt his hand being grabbed by Lu Yi.

Lu Yi whined, rolling onto his back as if saying, “Don’t go.”

Jing Yi rubbed Lu Yi’s chin: “Will Lu Yi come with me to see King Kong?”

The staff member who had left earlier came running out from behind the stage: “Mr. Jing, is that really appropriate? If Lu Yi and King Kong meet, something bad might happen.”

Even having Lu Yi stay alone backstage today had required many practice sessions. Moreover, Lu Yuzhi had specially hired extra staff just in case Lu Yi caused any major problems.

“It’s fine.” Jing Yi looked at the staff member with a serious expression. “I have experience.”

Of course, his experience came from filming public service announcements—Lion Brother Dao, who was originally a solitary male lion, started following him everywhere after they became close. Later, when filming with elephants, Brother Dao also made an appearance.

“It’s alright, we’ll continue with the previous plan.” Lu Yuzhi wasn’t irresponsible; hiring extra staff was precisely to prevent Lu Yi from suddenly going berserk.

When Lu Yi filmed on set, there were always specialized personnel watching him, ready to use tranquilizer darts at any moment.

But Lu Yi’s behavior had always been excellent, except for the very beginning when he stepped on a nail that had been maliciously thrown down. Of course, both the nail and the person responsible had been quietly dealt with by Lu Yuzhi long ago.

Jing Yi and Lu Yi walked ahead, heading toward King Kong’s enclosure.

At first, they only let Lu Yi and King Kong interact through the cage bars, with Jing Yi speaking softly to King Kong.

Only after King Kong nodded did they open the door.

When the two animals met, they first circled each other, staring intently, before finally settling down peacefully beside Jing Yi.

Lu Yuzhi took photos nearby, specifically capturing a close-up of Jing Yi and his left hand, then posted it on Weibo with the caption: My wife and I took our son to see King Kong.

In the photo, matching silver rings gleamed.

Weibo netizens instantly exploded, with overwhelming congratulations piling up into a tall building of comments.

A few unpleasant remarks were quickly buried by the crowd. There were also some particularly nasty comments from anonymous accounts, which were directly reported on Weibo.

Some fans immediately demanded to see their faces, but were quickly rebutted by others: “How narrow-minded! Such a harmonious scene—if you don’t start a livestream, this won’t end well!”

“Livestream, livestream, we want a livestream!”

“By the way, what happened to the grand scene someone photographed earlier? The flowers, balloons, red carpet, and all that?”

“Hahaha, I just think proposing at a zoo is hilarious. Are they going to get married at a zoo too?”

Lu Yuzhi relayed everyone’s comments to Jing Yi, who borrowed livestreaming equipment from the staff.

King Kong also had his own dedicated livestream channel, but this time Jing Yi could use his own.

Within just half an hour of starting the livestream, the number of viewers broke through ten million.

It’s not easy to witness a scene where a tiger and a gorilla coexist peacefully. Everyone excitedly sent gifts in the live stream, with several identical accounts being the most generous.

Sharp-eyed fans read out the account names: “Wow, Yi Zai’s Grandpa, Yi Zai’s Dad, Yi Zai’s Brother, Yi Zai’s Mom, Yi Zai’s Sister-in-law, Yi Zai’s Nephew? Who are these people? The gifts they sent together must be worth over a million, right?”

“Use your imagination a bit and think about the grandpa fan from Weibo before.”

“Holy cow, Lu Yuzhi’s family is all here, the whole family together.”

“Yi Zai isn’t losing out by marrying into this family. Our baby found a good family through free love, sob sob.”

From this point on, the tone of the live stream changed. A large group of mom fans tearfully expressed that their baby had grown up, frantically tagging several elders of the Lu family, asking them to treat Yi Zai well.

And they actually got a reply!

Jing Yi hadn’t been paying attention to the live stream content, but Lu Yuzhi whispered in his ear that the elders were all in the live stream.

Jing Yi’s face instantly turned red, his eyelashes fluttering as he stood in front of the camera: “Thank you for the gifts, elders and nephew.”

“Wow, shy Yi Zai is so adorable.”

“Sob sob, how did such a cute Yi Zai end up with Lu Yuzhi.”

After a lively hour of streaming, Lu Yuzhi asked Jing Yi if there was anywhere he wanted to go. Jing Yi said he wanted to visit Jialan Temple in a couple of days.

Lu Yuzhi: “There’s a temple in North City too, shall we visit together?”

Jing Yi smiled: “Okay.”

The temple in North City is called Nan’an Temple.

Jing Yi piously offered incense, closed his eyes, and reported his experiences to the abbot far away. Lu Yuzhi also closed his eyes beside him, silently thinking: “Thank you for bringing Jing Yi to me.”

Amidst the curling smoke, the ancient bell of Nan’an Temple was struck.

The deep “dong” sound seemed like a response.

Jing Yi smiled and took a deep look at the tall Buddha statue. The golden Buddha had half-open eyes, the curve of his lips as constant as ever.

After leaving the temple, they bought gifts and went to the Lu family home.

As soon as they entered, Lu’s grandfather said to Lu Yuzhi: “I’ve never seen anyone like you. Our Xiao Yi is such a good child, how could you confess to him at the zoo?”

Lu’s sister-in-law added: “When your brother confessed to me, it was under the aurora – so romantic!”

Their junior high school-aged nephew said: “When I confess to my future wife, I’ll go to Iceland!”

The whole family showed expressions of disdain. Lu Yuzhi’s face fell, looking pitifully to Jing Yi for help.

Jing Yi pursed his lips and smiled.

He enjoyed interacting with the Lu family – every word contained their affection for him. In his world, love between men was considered shocking and unconventional.

Being able to meet Lu Yuzhi was a kind of luck.

“It’s okay, I really liked the flowers Lu gave me,” Jing Yi spoke up for Lu Yuzhi. “The zoo was nice, and I received Yuzhi’s sincere feelings.”

The Lu family all laughed. Lu’s grandfather spoke: “The feelings are what matter, but proper ceremonies shouldn’t be skipped. It’s what young people call – the sense of ritual needs to be complete.”

“Xiao Yi, since you call me Grandpa and have accepted Yuzhi, I’ll take charge and pick a date for your engagement. I don’t know if you’re willing, Xiao Yi?”

Jing Yi nodded: “I’ll listen to Grandpa.”

Lu’s grandfather nodded with satisfaction and immediately wanted to call his familiar master to choose an auspicious date.

Lu Yuzhi said pitifully: “Grandpa, you haven’t asked me yet.”

Lu’s grandfather said impatiently: “Your opinion doesn’t matter.”

“But I want to get married.” Lu Yuzhi grasped Jing Yi’s hand. “Xiao Yi also promised me today to stay with me forever and ever.”

“Ah?” Old Master Lu finally caught on. “So you were proposing to Xiao Yi, not formally confessing to establish a relationship?”

“Our relationship was established long ago,” Lu Yuzhi replied honestly. “All that’s left is marriage.”

Old Master Lu looked toward his daughter-in-law.

“The new Civil Code will be promulgated in December.”

“Good, then it’s settled for December!”

Old Master Lu immediately called the master he was familiar with to calculate an auspicious date. The wedding was set for December 8th.

Jing Yi remained obedient and had no objections throughout; once something was decided, there was no need to be indecisive.

Then that evening, in Lu Yuzhi’s room, he was kissed until he was breathless again.

“Wifey was so good today, even spoke up for me.” Lu Yuzhi’s eyes were filled with adoration. “I love wifey the most.”

Jing Yi’s eyes were moist as he earnestly corrected him, “I’m not your wifey yet.”

“You will be soon.” Lu Yuzhi’s eyes were full of Jing Yi. “Very soon.”

The wedding preparations took over two months.

Fans were unaware of this matter, and the celebrities who received invitations did not publicize it widely. Most people who could be friends with Lu Yuzhi knew about his family’s business background.

Since the Lu family had sent out the invitations, it proved that the same-sex marriage law was about to be enacted.

Sure enough, on December 1st, the same-sex marriage law was announced.

Weibo was flooded with related news, and Jing Yi’s fans and Lu Yuzhi’s fans eagerly rushed to the two celebrities’ Weibo pages to inform them of the news.

Their responses were surprisingly consistent.

They posted their marriage certificates!

The first same-sex couple in the country!

“Wah, so we were the clowns all along.”

“How could it be so fast? It’s like they were waiting outside the civil affairs bureau just to get their marriage certificate!”

“I’ll take this dog food, you all do as you please!”

“Quietly asking, can you let me see the wedding, Yi-baby? I can’t attend, but I want to watch.”

This comment requesting to see the wedding instantly received tens of thousands of likes.

Jing Yi typed: “Sure.”

A wedding is a happy occasion; letting everyone participate virtually isn’t a bad idea.

Days passed one by one, and the eagerly waiting fans gathered early in the live stream room.

On the wedding day, the live stream started on time. Surprisingly, the wedding was in a traditional Chinese style. To suit the two grooms, the guests on-site were all wearing modified Hanfu.

Jing Yi and Lu Yuzhi, dressed in red robes, bowed to each other in front of Old Master Lu.

Neither wore wigs, but the red robes suited them perfectly without any awkwardness.

“What a stunning beauty my Yi-baby is in red! Wah, so beautiful!”

“Lu Poor Thing got a bargain.”

“Sorry, Yi-baby looks even fairer and more delicate in red; I’m thinking of naughty things. I’m going to face the wall and reflect.”

No matter how amazed the fans were, they were still separated by a screen.

After the wedding, looking at Jing Yi sitting on the wedding bed, Lu Yuzhi was lost in thought for a long time before pouring the wine.

The ancient-style wedding was actually Lu Yuzhi’s idea. Although some steps were modified, the most important part before the wedding night—the cross-cupped wine—could not be omitted.

The red candles flickered as Lu Yuzhi handed the wine cup to Jing Yi.

Jing Yi took it and gripped it slightly.

He had previously researched how same-sex wedding nights should proceed, originally intending to ease his nervousness, but he hadn’t expected that when it actually came to this moment, the tension was unavoidable.

“Why aren’t you looking at me?”

Lu Yuzhi had become quite adept at acting coy lately because he knew Jing Yi fell for it.

Hearing the grievance in Lu Yuzhi’s voice, Jing Yi looked up at the man sitting beside him and pushed the wine cup forward.

The ceremonial wine—they clinked cups, linked arms, each took a sip, then offered their cups for the other to drink, finally exchanging cups to finish in one go. It symbolized their union as one, never to part again.

Lu Yuzhi didn’t press Jing Yi to speak; under the candlelight, Jing Yi’s face was already slightly flushed.

Yet after taking a sip, Jing Yi frowned.

Lu Yuzhi quickly asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Why is it water?” Jing Yi wondered.

He had wanted to try getting drunk to ease the awkwardness later.

Lu Yuzhi replied, “It’s water. You don’t consume meat, strong flavors, or alcohol, so I swapped it.”

A hint of amusement flickered in Jing Yi’s eyes. “I’ve married you—do you still think I’d mind alcohol? If that’s the case, should we skip all the rituals tonight?”

Lu Yuzhi was stunned. “No, we can’t!”

Since childhood, he had been taught to maintain purity and integrity, never to harm others before marriage. So even after being with Jing Yi for nearly half a year, he hadn’t crossed any major boundaries—at most, kissing his neck.

After thirty years, he had finally married the one he loved—how could such an important step be omitted?

Lu Yuzhi stood up. “I’ll get the wine!”

The bridal chamber was his home, and there was wine in the cabinet.

“Get something strong,” Jing Yi murmured.

Lu Yuzhi glanced back at Jing Yi and agreed.

They poured the wine anew, linked arms again, and exchanged cups.

Empty cups were set down, each tasting the other’s lips tinged with alcohol.

The candle flame flickered until it died out.

The next day, the corners of Jing Yi’s eyes were still red when he woke.

His usually clean, serene face now carried a wordless allure.

Lu Yuzhi would have liked Jing Yi to sleep longer, but Jing Yi refused.

As usual, after breakfast, Jing Yi mentioned wanting a new job.

Lu Yuzhi sighed helplessly. “We haven’t even gone on our honeymoon. I wanted to take you to India.”

Jing Yi smiled. “We can go anytime.”

“Among the recent offers, I picked this one for you.” Lu Yuzhi sighed and showed Jing Yi the invitation he had selected earlier for “Resounding Melodies.” “Of course, if you don’t want to do it, we can choose something else.”

“No, this is fine,” Jing Yi said gently. “It’s a good one.”

Being a singer-dancer had been Jing Yi’s original dream.

“There’s still some time before the show starts. Shall we learn together?”

Jing Yi asked curiously, “Hmm? Are you joining too?”

Lu Yuzhi shook his head. “I’m not participating, but they invited me as a special guest. I don’t have professional knowledge in this area, so I need to learn—and it’s a good chance to accompany you.”

Of course, the deeper reason was that he wanted more time with his wife.

Lu Yuzhi had no talent for painting or calligraphy, but he thought singing might be manageable.

Once they decided on their next steps, they attended classes every afternoon.

During this time, “Northern Night City” was released, and director Gu Chen was simultaneously roasted by fans on trending searches.

“Deceptive director!”

“False advertising!”

Fans who hadn’t seen the movie yet asked what happened, and the response was: “Go watch it in theaters—it’s brilliant! Come out and join us in cursing Gu Chen!”

By the time the movie left theaters, fans finally spoke plainly.

“Gu Chen, you big liar! You showed us Song Yu’s innocent side on Weibo. And then? Turns out Song Yu was the major villain who nearly killed the male lead!”

“Yi-zi’s acting is so nuanced, who could tell he was the villain at first!”

“That written character was clearly a metaphor, right? The character for ‘love’ with a knife beneath it!”

“Just a casual viewer here, but I was genuinely scared by the dark look in Jing Yi’s eyes during his transformation. And that creepy smile when he jumped off the building at the end gave me chills.”

“Ah, Song Yu had it so rough. Seeing that scene, being tormented by the Song family… Death might have been a release for him.”

Gu Chen’s trending topic dropped, while Song Yu’s rose to the top.

The film was submitted for awards by Gu Chen.

Before the awards were announced, Jing Yi appeared on the stage of “Resounding Melodies,” where Sheng Xiaguang also participated, making them competitors.

“Oh my god, if Yi-zi hadn’t joined the show, I’d almost have forgotten he debuted as an idol.”

“Go, Yi-zi, go! Your singing is amazing!”

“Traditional-style songs might finally make a comeback. I heard the lyrics and composition were all created by Yi-zi himself.”

“I’m in love, I’m in love.”

He advanced all the way to the final round, where it came down to a showdown between Jing Yi and Sheng Xiaguang. The stage performance was broadcast live, and viewers nationwide voted to choose the episode’s “King of Songs.”

Fans had expected Jing Yi’s final song to be another traditional-style piece, but to their surprise, he performed a modern song that day.

With his clear, transparent voice and dark, affectionate eyes, it was clear he was singing for Lu Yuzhi, who was seated in the special guest section.

“Hidden message in the lyrics confirmed!”

“My mom asked me why I just swallowed a huge mouthful of dog food!”

“If you take the first characters of these lines, doesn’t it spell out ‘Lu Yuzhi, I love you’? Did they think we wouldn’t notice?”

Listeners in love were swept away by the moving melody, as if they too could see the one who held their heart.

But Sheng Xiaguang was also a skilled singer.

Jing Yi’s fans privately wanted to vote for him, but considering his personality, they compared the performances carefully before casting their votes.

In the end, the two ended up with exactly the same number of votes.

“Resounding Melodies” saw its first-ever dual champions.

Jing Yi took the trophy and placed it before the memorial tablet, clasped his hands together, and silently chanted.

Lu Yuzhi did not disturb him or ask any questions.

A few days later, the film awards were announced.

Jing Yi won Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor.

When he received the awards, he couldn’t believe it at first, only later realizing that the former was for his role in “Xie Qiyun.”

After the ceremony, Jing Yi, as usual, placed the trophies before the memorial tablet.

That night, sitting on the bed, he earnestly told Lu Yuzhi about his experience of traveling through time and space.

Lu Yuzhi smiled. “I thought you wouldn’t tell me.”

Jing Yi also smiled. “I thought you would ask.”

“I respect your wishes. If you want to tell me, I’ll listen. If you don’t, I don’t mind.” Lu Yuzhi’s eyes were filled with deep affection. “I love the you who is here with me, and it doesn’t matter where you come from.”

Jing Yi smiled, kissed Lu Yuzhi, and said, “I love you too.”

He had confessed his deepest secret and received an answer that filled his heart with joy.

To gaze upon and stay with the one you love is also a form of cultivation.

[End of Main Story]