Rebirth: How A Loser Became A Prince Charming

Qin Guan bought some magazines to keep as souvenirs. During breakfast, he read "TIME" and checked out his ranking on the list of the Top 50 Most Handsome Guys In The World. Qin Guan chuckled to himself.

His fans had already posted a scanned picture of the magazine on his blog, but it was wonderful to read the news with his own eyes. The finely printed magazine pleased him.

This was the first time he had been selected as one of the 50 Most Handsome Guys In The World. His ranking was pretty high as well. As the most handsome guy in Asia, his international ranking couldn’t be too low. Asians were pretty passionate after all.

He had actually ranked ninth, just below Marlon Brando, but above Brad Pitt, Keanu Reeves and other handsome Hollywood men of the same generation.

The editor of "TIME" had chosen a colorful photo of Qin Guan, which looked splendid next to the black-and-white photo of Marlon Brando.

A modern young man had forced his way among timeless actors. This was a success of race representation. Now Asian men wouldn’t complain about the list, although only three Asian stars had been selected.

Qin Guan wondered what the judges’ criteria had been, as all South Korean men had been weeded out. The other two Asian men were an Indian Bollywood actor and a Canadian-Chinese model.

In 2006, Qin Guan beat the Koreans, who were famous for their cosmetic surgeries. Only people who relied on their real looks and acting skills, like Zhang Dongjian, could compete against Qin Guan in Southeast Asia.

Qin Guan didn’t care about his ranking. Actually, even during their prime time, those deceased timeless actors wouldn’t have been able to compete with him when it came to looks. Such men always remained perfect in people’s memories though. It was too complicated to explain.

Some people might have considered that list the ultimate honor, but Qin Guan just turned the page with a smile.

As he was enjoying a fried bacon sandwich and some milk, a newspaper title made him spit his food out on the paper.

An elegant lady shot a disdainful glance at him and turned her body away. Qin Guan wiped his mouth awkwardly with a tissue and kept reading the news. He certainly had not expected this.

"Nicholas Tse met his secret girlfriend at night after picking up his friend from the airport."

There were two photos under the headline.

The first one was clear. It showed Qin Guan and Nicholas Tse going out of the airport with their shoulders touching. They were not the same height, but they could still chat happily.

The other photo looked like a secret snap.

Tse was hugging a woman in a street corner. The readers could only see her back and jaw, but Qin Guan could speculate about her identity.

He took out his cell phone and dialled a familiar number.

After a long while, a man answered the call. He sounded both sleepy and exhausted.

"Hey, Qin Guan! What’s the matter?"

"Did you read the newspaper today? You are in trouble, dude! Did you meet Cecilia Cheung last night after we separated?"

Nicholas Tse came back to his senses immediately.

"How did you know that, Brother Qin? We’ve been keeping it a secret!"

"So you say." Qin Guan stuffed the last piece of bacon into his mouth. Wang Liying sighed and stood up to get him some more.

Qin Guan explained as he chewed his food.

"Photos of you were published in ’The Sun’. All Hong Kongers must be reading the news while eating breakfast."

Before his voice could fade away, he heard some noise from the other end of the line.

Qin Guan hung up and moved on to the other gossip in the newspaper. Actually, he liked to see the world in chaos.

Ten minutes later, as he was enjoying his last fried egg, Tse called him back.