A Contemptuous Beauty

Cheng Yan walked into the hotel as naturally as possible and went through the lobby without attracting any attention. The giant crystal chandelier radiated light against the polished marble floor, shimmering and reflecting against each other.

He suddenly began to imagine the chandelier falling on his head and striking him to death. His parents would be completely distraught, chasing after the company to hold them accountable. Why did they arrange for him to come to this hotel in the middle of the night?

Then the media would begin to dig out the reason why this mediocre, dime-a-dozen actor would appear in this luxury hotel, and passers-by A, B, and C would break the news, finally revealing the truth–he was here to sell flesh.

The dingling sound of the elevator interrupted the tragic funeral in Cheng Yan’s imagination.

The corridor was quiet. Only the wall lamp exuded a soft light.

Someone in the suite was already there, waiting.

To say waiting wasn’t quite accurate. The other party was in front of the floor-to-ceiling French window wrapped in a bathrobe, with wine and ice buckets placed on the carpet by his feet. It seemed like he was enjoying a moment of post-shower relaxation.

After comparing “Boss Xia” and “Mr. Xia”, Cheng Yan chose the latter.

“Mr. Xia.”

“Take it off and let me look.”

Cheng Yan was startled. “What?”

“Take off your clothes, let me have a look.”

Cheng Yan felt blood slowly rushing into his ears, with waves of faint buzzing, but he wasn’t deaf yet. Xia Shaoqian had spoken slowly and clearly, and he wasn’t joking at all. The meaning was “I want to check the goods first.”

Cheng Yan looked at the floor-to-ceiling window behind Xia Shaoqian. Although it was already late at night, the city outside the window was still bustling.

The lights were dazzling and extending stream-like into the Milky Way.

He knew that no one on the outside could see the inside from this kind of window.

Xia Shaoqian was still staring at him.

Cheng Yan stretched out his arms and took off his hat first, followed by his jacket and t-shirt. After taking off his shirt, he could feel weak air currents grazing past his skin, and the hairs on his arms quickly stood up. Cheng Yan placed his hand on the zipper of his jeans.

“Come here.” Xia Shaoqian suddenly said.

Cheng Yan walked over, and Xia Shaoqian was still sitting on the round sofa. Only then did Cheng Yan clearly see the appearance of this gold master.

His hair was thick and neat, but the temples were graying. He had a narrow forehead with very obvious lines. His eye sockets were deep, and the straight bridge of the nose had shallow marks left from wearing glasses.

Seemed like a good-looking forty-year-old man should be like this.

Xia Shaoqian reached out and put his hand on Cheng Yan’s flat abdomen.

His fingers, that had just held the chilled wine, were very cold, enhancing Cheng Yan’s sensitivity. Cheng Yan felt a thumb rubbing his belly button, and then sliding along the waist to the back, slowly inserting itself into the gap between the waist and the jeans.

This is a veteran, Cheng Yan thought.

Xia Shaoqian suddenly raised his head. His gaze seemed to penetrate his mind and read his thoughts directly. Cheng Yan hurriedly avoided his sharp eyes.

“Have you taken a bath?”

“Yes.”

“Get on the bed.” Xia Shaoqian’s tone didn’t sound dissatisfied, but it also didn’t contain the slightest bit of excitement.

They did it twice on the bed. Once from the back, once face-to-face. When they were facing each other, Cheng Yan’s legs were pulled apart and raised up very high. It had been many years since he last felt this kind of soreness. While he was in a daze, he recalled when he was in junior high and made a bet with his deskmate that he could do the splits. As a result, he had muscle cramps all night. How many years ago was this? Thirteen years, no, fourteen years…

In the end, Xia Shaoqian came down, his entire body sticky. He threw away the condom, and went to take a shower without saying a word.

Cheng Yan had collapsed on the bed, secretly reflecting on his physical strength. After doing it twice, he had already become a pile of dead meat. That’s right, after all, he was twenty-nine now, no longer an age where he was bouncing up and down. And during the day, he was still playing an unfortunate constable, chasing the female lead back and forth. The female lead was using a stunt double, but he was doing the chasing himself.

As he reflected, tears started coming down.

Then he began to despise himself even more.

During the lunch break the next day, Cheng Yan’s new agent, Yang-laoshi[1], came. They said he was originally a dance teacher, so he was called Yang-laoshi in the company.

“Did you go to Boss Xia yesterday?” Teacher Yang said gently. 

Cheng Yan didn’t want to talk about this topic, and nodded.

Yang-laoshi revealed a look of understanding, turning toward the set. “Let’s finish up over here, as soon as possible.”

“My scenes are in the last two episodes. It’s impossible to let me shoot first, right?”

Yang-laoshi said, “I’ll go over and say hello, have the screenwriter change the script, and let Constable Chen die quickly.” He spat out a ring of smoke, and suddenly laughed. “This might be the last time you play this kind of role.”

Cheng Yan clenched the mineral water bottle in his hand.

Yang-laoshi patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry.”

The company’s top agents were really efficient. In the evening, a young girl from the screenwriting group came over and muttered to Cheng Yan that his original scenes were gone.

“We decided to let Prince Qi’s men kill him.” Prince Qi was the biggest villain of the drama.

Cheng Yan apologized repeatedly. “I’ve really troubled you all.” Then he gave her several large packages of fruits and snacks.

The young girl was originally a bit annoyed, but seeing him apologizing so sincerely, she became embarrassed instead. “It’s not that hard to change. Anyway, it’s not like one more life on Prince Qi’s hands would make a difference.”

Cheng Yan was amused.

“Did you offend someone, to delete all your scenes?” The young girl asked.

Cheng Yan smiled. “No. I really didn’t.”

[1] laoshi = teacher

T/N: Just decided to translate this novel, which is a somewhat archetypal entertainment industry story, with all the typical tropes. The main character is an actor shou, and the male lead is a sugar daddy gong who is older than him.

Even though these elements are pretty common, I was drawn in by this story when I read the MTL. The writing is good and I liked how the author portrayed a more mature and realistic relationship. Although A Contemptuous Beauty has some darker moments, the main character has a strong personality and doesn’t get pushed around by his circumstances. 

This is a story where both sides make efforts and achieve a happy ending as a result. Hoping that everyone will enjoy it.