The Pampered Young Master Is Adored at Art School - Chapter 4

Su Zhan looked up, the brief, unreadable flicker in Dylan’s expression leaving him puzzled.

Did he not like A Midsummer Night’s Dream?

“Sorry,” Su Zhan said, pulling back his phone. It was a message from Xu Chenjian: “What do you want to eat tonight, Xiao Su? I’ll go ahead and book a table.”

Xu Chenjian followed up with several photos of Chinese restaurants, including Bay Pavilion, a Cantonese spot featured in the Michelin Guide, and a few invite-only private kitchens.

Seeing the restaurant photos, Su Zhan was sharply reminded of his current situation. His financial status was no longer what it used to be. The restaurants he used to be picky about were now places he could no longer afford, at least not on his own.

But could he really let Xu Chenjian support him forever? Friendship could only be drained so much before it withered. Xu Chenjian would likely help him, but the moment he accepted that help, they would no longer be equal friends. They would become a benefactor and a pitiful beggar.

Su Zhan turned off his phone screen and finished the croissant Dylan had given him, bite by bite. It felt as though by not answering, he could escape the reality and keep the truth hidden a little longer, preserving the perfection of his youth.

The performance ended to thunderous applause. The two guest professional dancers stood alongside the student actors, their cheeks flushed with a happy glow. As the audience dispersed, the stage faded from the glitz and glamour of the Moulin Rouge back into reality.

Xu Chenjian left the seating area and waited for Su Zhan at the backstage door. Standing there with a cold, solemn aura, he looked entirely out of place amidst the joyful atmosphere of the successful celebration inside.

“Lucian, it’s time to go. Let’s get dinner.” There wasn’t a hint of complaint in Xu Chenjian’s voice, he didn’t seem to mind that Su Zhan hadn’t replied to his messages. He asked in English, making it clear he intended to take Su Zhan away.

Suddenly, a figure carrying the scent of tobacco brushed past Xu Chenjian and burst into the backstage area. He smiled at Su Zhan, though his attitude was dismissive. “Thanks, Lucian. You’re free to go now.”

Adrian had finally made his late appearance. Though he said the words of gratitude, his demeanor suggested he took everything Su Zhan had done for granted.

Su Zhan’s brows knit together. There was no way Adrian hadn’t noticed that the tango dancers were last-minute replacements, yet he pointedly avoided the topic of expenses. Did he expect Su Zhan to cover the cost? That was out of the question!

Su Zhan stole a glance at Dylan, who was standing to the side, and found himself in a dilemma. If Adrian didn’t pay, would he have to pay Dylan back himself? In the past, he never kept track of his spending, and he had forgotten to ask for a price this time. What if it was an amount he couldn’t afford?

He could barely scrape together his tuition, he certainly didn’t have the money to be a fall guy!

“Brother Jian, wait a second. I need to settle this!” Su Zhan tilted his chin up, genuinely angry now. “Adrian, you need to explain why you were absent, and you also need to cover the costs for hiring the dancers.”

Though Su Zhan kept his back straight, he was actually quite nervous. He rarely had to handle situations where someone used “gratitude” as a front to take advantage of him. In the past, he usually just paid his way out of trouble.

Xu Chenjian watched this play out in silence, his brow furrowed. In his memory, Su Zhan had always been soft-natured. Someone who had never lacked money naturally wouldn’t get into a conflict over it.

But today, Su Zhan was speaking up for that white man who was much taller than him, demanding payment on his behalf.

“What expenses?” Adrian asked, sounding a bit guilty. “It wasn’t my idea to hire outside people, so naturally, I shouldn’t be the one paying.”

Adrian’s implication was crystal clear, since the problem occurred while Su Zhan was in charge, it was Su Zhan’s responsibility to handle the aftermath, including the bill.

“Are you saying that because I acted as the temporary stage manager, I should be the one to pay?” Su Zhan’s anger flared. He had helped out and was now expected to pay for the privilege? The nerve of this guy.

As if the heavens were on Su Zhan’s side, the professor quietly walked into the backstage area. As the true director of the play, he knew every actor’s positioning by heart. One look from the audience was enough for him to know the dancers weren’t the original pair, meaning something had gone wrong backstage.

A spark of inspiration hit Su Zhan. Knowledge of the Stanislavski system flooded his mind, and he channeled his inner “green tea” persona, his voice turning mournful. “Is the role of stage manager just a disposable position to you?”

Su Zhan pretended not to see the professor. He clutched his chest as if his high artistic integrity had been insulted. He had an innocent look to begin with, and with his Asian features as a bonus, his dark, almond-shaped eyes looked like they could brim with tears at any moment. It was incredibly persuasive.

The professor was a thin, wiry man in his fifties who usually seemed frail and mild-mannered. Seeing this, however, his eyes snapped wide open with fury. He had always had a high opinion of Su Zhan, so he was convinced that Adrian, that slippery character, was bullying the little “Asian Shakespeare.”

The old man’s face turned a lobster-red in a matter of seconds. He stared with wide eyes, holding his breath, but he restrained himself from exploding immediately, wanting to hear Adrian’s excuse first.

“Hey! How can you say that?” Adrian shouted, his gestures becoming wild and aggressive in his excitement. Su Zhan instinctively flinched away.

Dylan stepped forward, blocking Su Zhan. “You actually do need to explain when exactly you arrived backstage, only to slip away again once you saw things were out of control.”

Dylan had never intended to take back the money for the dancers, but he thoroughly enjoyed Su Zhan speaking up for him. However, he knew when to stop while he was ahead.

“Who are you? Why are you even backstage?” Adrian was even more indignant now. Su Zhan was the professor’s favorite, so he could stomach a few words from him, but who was this new face? An underclassman sitting in? How could a rookie talk to a graduating senior like that?

Thinking of his seniority, Adrian regained his confidence. “That’s total nonsense.”

“What right do you have to say I was hiding? I just went to find the professor… to ask about my grades, which is why I got back late.”

Adrian had actually gone to beg for “pity points” because he was on the verge of failing, but since that wasn’t a very prestigious thing to admit, he instinctively began to sugarcoat his story.

“The evidence is obvious.” Dylan took a step toward Adrian, his height making him incredibly intimidating. His brow bone was high, and when he tilted his head down slightly, the shadow obscured his sea-blue eyes, casting a gloom over his expression.

“The smell of tobacco on you is far too strong. This is a smoke-free campus. If you had come straight back after seeing the professor, you wouldn’t have had time to go off-campus to smoke.” Dylan crossed his arms, his brow furrowed in a look of disgust.

“Or were you smoking on campus? Smoking on school grounds requires a full semester of public conduct classes.” Su Zhan chimed in with feigned shock, continuing his act. “Adrian, it’s a miracle you weren’t caught!”

“Adrian!” the professor finally snapped. “You’re almost out of this school, so do you think you don’t have to be responsible for anything anymore?”

“If you had tried to save the show, I would have acknowledged your effort regardless of the outcome. But if your attitude is truly one of avoidance, then you are beyond help. You even tried to swindle Lucian out of his money!”

“I cannot in good conscience write you a recommendation letter. Find someone else.”

The professor’s words struck Adrian where it hurt most. Just a moment ago, he had been aggressive and proud as a peacock, now he looked like a piece of poultry caught by the neck, stammering and unable to speak.

The recommendation letter was Adrian’s Achilles’ heel. If all went well, he was supposed to graduate at the end of this semester, and he needed that letter to apply for graduate art programs.

Trapped between the professor’s authority and Dylan’s intimidation, Adrian was stunned. He had assumed Su Zhan was mild-tempered and wealthy, so he wanted to take a little advantage of him. He hadn’t expected such a strong reaction.

Is he actually poor now? Is that why he’s so obsessed with money?

But Adrian quickly dismissed the thought. There was a shopping bag from The Row sitting near Su Zhan, clearly containing a new purchase. A winter coat from that brand cost at least three thousand dollars.

If he couldn’t touch the rich kid, surely he could handle this freshman?

Wearing a university T-shirt, he clearly had no background. He’d just have to wait until the underclassmen banded together to deal with him. He would soon learn how unwise it was to speak out of turn in a place that valued seniority.

Adrian glared at Dylan, but Dylan acted as though he couldn’t read the threat in his eyes. He asked bluntly, “Do you have a problem with me?”

Adrian choked on his words. “No, nothing…”

He was going crazy. Since when did the Arts Academy start letting in such socially tone-deaf people! This guy was so direct he seemed like a fool from the Engineering College. Could he not read the room?

“The way he looks at me makes me uncomfortable. Does he always act like this?” Dylan lowered his head to ask Su Zhan, looking like a large dog that had been bullied for no reason, his eyes full of innocence.

This guy was over six feet tall, maybe even 6.5 feet, and he was pretending to need a thin Chinese kid to stand up for him? Absolutely shameless!

Adrian looked at them for a few more seconds, and then it dawned on him. They were both faking it! They were acting innocent and foolish just to win people’s sympathy!

But their plan had already worked. Every actor backstage was glaring at him, and no one was on his side anymore, including the professor.

The professor turned to Su Zhan, his voice very kind. “I’ll cover the expenses, regardless of the amount. Lucian, you did a great job. Would you like to intern for my official production? It’s not a student play, it’s a show at a theater downtown. There might be some late-night shows, and it’ll be busy until midnight…”

Su Zhan nodded, feeling genuinely happy. He wanted to talk more with the professor, but his gaze landed on Xu Chenjian.

Xu Chenjian was still waiting, standing outside the backstage door like a loyal vassal guarding a castle, never overstepping his bounds.

The words Su Zhan was about to say turned into an apology for his departure. “Excuse me, my friend is waiting for me for dinner.”

He walked toward the door, the evening breeze blowing through the crack and ruffling the hair on his face. Standing in the soft backstage light, Su Zhan asked softly in Chinese, “Brother Jian, let’s go to Sunvale to buy groceries, okay? I don’t want any of the places you sent. I just want the tofu soup you make.”

Xu Chenjian’s cooking had always suited Su Zhan’s palate, and home-cooked meals were the only option Su Zhan could accept now without accidentally giving away his secret.

Chinese was an encrypted language that only the two of them understood, creating an atmosphere that felt naturally impenetrable to others.

Amidst the sequence of rising and falling foreign tones, Dylan caught the name of a nearby supermarket.

They weren’t going out to eat, but buying groceries to cook at home? That seemed far too intimate. What exactly was their relationship?

Dylan gripped the clipboard, his thumb pressing hard against the sharp edge. The dull pain in his fingertip combined with the scene before him into a dark omen of failure.

That tall Chinese man looked quite well-off, yet Su Zhan refused to ask him for help, preferring to sell his watch and belongings instead? Was it because he couldn’t bear to lose face in front of a friend and admit his downfall, or was it because Su Zhan couldn’t bring himself to borrow money from this man?

If he couldn’t bring himself to do it, why not?

This “friend” of Su Zhan’s was irritating Dylan, like a piece of sand in his shoe, making every step of his plan uncomfortable.

Dylan suddenly felt a strange sense of losing control. If Su Zhan had a fallback plan, his own chances of winning weren’t as high. Money was the most useful thing in the world, but how could he prove that his money was more worth taking than Elias’s?

Dylan felt as if he were facing a great enemy. In his eyes, the trip to the Sunvale supermarket became a battleground. He quietly sent a message to Su Zhan on Facebook Marketplace: “Can we meet in person for the transaction tonight? I can give you an extra ten thousand.”

Support The Pampered Young Master Is Adored at Art School