CH 25

So far, Yu Le’s heart was as calm as it could be. At most, he was more annoyed that Yu Youzhi and Huo Annong were involving him.

At that second, he was like a passerby on the bank watching a fight in the water but was suddenly pushed in when Zhu Luo walked up.

“Zhu Luo, why…are you here too?”

The inexplicable emotions in his chest began to surge, and he subconsciously shook off Yu Youzhi’s hand, at a loss for what to do.

Very good, now the main character, main love interest, second love interest, and third love interest were all together.

This charity dinner was really exciting.

Zhu Luo had arrived, and his face was already cooling down, the flush receding as quickly as it had appeared. He looked at the people before him, and his expression was somewhat lost, “Why, can’t I come over?”

Yu Le lowered his eyes, “Zhu Luo, you know that’s not what I meant…”

“Well, I know,” he tried his best to suppress his dissatisfaction and looked at Yu Le with a relaxed face, but he still couldn’t help complaining, “But really, where were you earlier? Do you know how long I’ve been looking for you?”

“I’m sorry…” Yu Le’s guilt weighed down on him, and he mechanically began to introduce everyone, “Azhu, this is Huo Annong, you have already met him. This is Yu Youzhi, um, he’s a star.” He looked at Zhu Luo before seriously adding, “None of them are my friends.”

Huo Annong clicked his tongue audibly.

Yu Youzhi’s face was incredibly unpleasant, “Yu Le, it makes me a little sad when you say that, I thought for sure that our relationship had advanced to best friends at least!”

Yu Le didn’t care, “No, I just admire you as a fan from afar.”

Although Zhu Luo’s attitude stayed cold, he remembered his manners and smiled politely, “Nice to meet you all, I’m Zhu Luo.” After saying hello, he looked at his friend, “A Yu, when did you start chasing stars?”

Yu Le recalled, “Actually, it started in college.”

Yu Beiman had appeared one night after a long nightmare. At that time, the TV was playing in the living room. The little girl who had just opened her eyes for the first time felt the world was extremely novel and fell in love with the handsome guy she saw on the TV at first sight.

In the series, Yu Youzhi was walking on the seashore, his long black hair blowing in the wind. With a slender, melancholic back shown, the camera zoomed in, and he suddenly turned his head to look at the viewers outside the screen with a smile before sadly stepping into the deep sea.

This scene hit Yu Beiman in the heart, and since then, her passionate journey of chasing stars had begun.

Hearing Yu Le’s answer, Zhu Luo’s eyes flickered.

He opened his mouth but closed it again, looking at him with complicated eyes. A Yu, how many things have you hidden from me?

He wanted to ask this question, but it was obviously inappropriate on such an occasion.

Zhu Luo felt depressed.

He was not happy to see Yu Le standing intimately with a strange man.

He was not happy to hear Huo Annong’s contemptuous tone towards Yu Le.

Seeing the two men fighting with Yu Le in between made him even more unhappy.

Envy had welled in his heart, and before he’d had time to think about it, he had found his way over, ready to try and insert himself among the men grouped together.

But now, he didn’t know what to say.

It made him irritable.

Taking a deep breath, Zhu Luo tried to calm down, but as he looked into Yu Le’s eyes, he couldn’t help taking a step forward and reaching out his hands.

“…Zhu Luo?”

“A Yu, your tie is crooked.” He began to straighten Yu Le’s tie, and under the watchful eyes of the other two men, he said naturally, “A Yu, you need to pay more attention in this kind of place. I won’t always be able to pick out your suits and help you with your ties…”

“Ah…okay.” Yu Le lowered his head in shame.

Standing off to the side, Yu Youzhi glared at Zhu Luo, who felt the hostility and raised his eyebrows as if to dare the other; what could he do?

“A Yu, do you have time tomorrow night?” Zhu Luo suddenly asked, “Now that the concert is over, I need to transfer my private equipment back. Could you come help me move everything?”

It was obvious that Zhu Luo only planned on accepting one answer.

He stepped up closer, deliberately swinging his arms around Yu Le’s shoulders in front of Yu Youzhi and Huo Annong and acting more affectionate than usual, “I’ll treat you to dinner once we finish?”

Yu Le opened his mouth to refuse, “I—”

“Sorry, tomorrow night we already have an appointment.” But Yu Youzhi stepped forward at this moment and winked at Yu Le as he said with a smile, “We had actually just arranged it before you came over here. It seems that your date will have to be postponed, isn’t that right A Yu?”

Why are you calling me A Yu?!

Am I familiar with you?!

Yu Le glared at Yu Youzhi fiercely before he turned to Zhu Luo guiltily, but Zhu Luo had already let go and was looking at him indifferently.

Waiting for his answer.

Staring at his shoes, Yu Le didn’t dare to look at his face as he explained in a low voice, “I’m sorry, Azhu, we really did agree on a meeting…”

“Okay, I understand.” Yu Le didn’t need to finish his words for Zhu Luo to speak up, “It seems I’ll have to ask someone else for help.”

For no reason at all, Yu Le felt his mood plummet at these words.

Biting his lower lip, he turned his head away.

His expression was a foul, Yu Le almost didn’t manage to resist the urge to take back his words. To agree to come after all. He didn’t like Yu Youzhi anyway.

But he pinched his arm and held back.

After a while, Zhu Luo raised his head with a forced smile gracing his face and nodded slightly to the other two men, “I still have something to do, excuse me, I’ll leave first.” He almost fled in despair.

Maintaining a constant pace as he walked away, Zhu Luo didn’t stop until he had entered the restroom and left the range of any watchful eyes.

Washing his face with cold water, he wanted to cry.

A Yu…unexpectedly rejected him for another man.

Hadn’t he liked him for more than ten years?

Was his like so cheap?!

How could he refuse him like this?! It was clear that Yu Youzhi had bad intentions towards him, couldn’t he see it?!

Zhu Luo splashed another handful of water on his face.

Staring into the mirror, his face was ashamed and annoyed.

Really ugly.

Why was he like this?

He had clearly rejected Yu Le.

Yet, he felt as though he had been rejected.

In the end, he couldn’t bear to see Yu Le’s intimate actions with others and even developed an inexplicable desire to keep him to himself. He wanted absolute control over everything he did. Everything he thought about.

It was really crazy.

He lowered his head and smiled wryly.

What if…What if he had found out about Yu Le’s feelings for him earlier? What if he had realised the weight that had been pulling his friend down? If he had asked, would Yu Le still have given up? Would their relationship still be as broken as it was now?

Thinking about it, Zhu Luo was startled by himself.

These thoughts…did he really want to be with Yu Le?

Could it be…that he actually likes Yu Le?!

No! No! No! A Yu is his friend!!

He has always been his best friend!!

But his mind couldn’t help drifting back to that scene with Yu Le, Yu Youzhi and Huo Annong smiling without him.

He frowned.

A wealthy president worth hundreds of billions of dollars and a big star in the entertainment industry well known to everyone…He had obviously heard of these two people before. What had happened that Yu Le had mixed in with them? He would obviously suffer.

Suppressing that trace of possessiveness that seemed to keep coming up, he told himself that it was natural to be worried about a close friend, “I have to find a chance to remind A Yu. He’s so kind, he won’t know to be wary of them.”

After Zhu Luo left, Yu Le was once again alone between Huo Annong and Yu Youzhi.

He was suffocating in their auras.

Before he managed to escape after Zhu Luo, Yu Youzhi spoke up, “A Yu, you really care about your friend a lot…But it must be hard to deal with him, huh?”

He was surprised, how did he know?

Yu Youzhi smiled knowingly, “A Yu, you must not have noticed. As soon as Zhu Luo walked over, your whole body tensed up, almost as if you were afraid of something?”

He clenched his jaw, how did this man manage to grasp his every weakness?

Huo Annong, on the other side, had had enough of watching the show and looked at him forbearingly, “Should I also treat you to dinner?”

“…” Yu Le was left at a pause. Hadn’t Huo Annong hated him?

“You had seemed to be simply a dumb little prostitute,” he glanced deliberately at Yu Youzhi before continuing, “but now it seems that this is not the case.”

Facing Huo Annong’s direct words, Yu Le was expressionless, “Mr. Huo, it’s quite inappropriate for you to joke around with me like this.”

“My apologies.”

Not wishing to stay with these two any longer, Yu Le left without looking back.

Behind him, Yu Youzhi raised his voice, “A Yu, don’t forget about tomorrow’s dinner!”

Once he had left, Yu Youzhi and Huo Annong were standing by themselves.

Huo Annong’s eyes reflected the back of the young man in his royal blue suit, and he took a sip of champagne, “Youzhi, aren’t you going to chase after your new toy?”

“No, he needs some space of his own right now.” Yu Youzhi didn’t refute the idea that Yu Le was his toy and asked instead, “Annong, what do you think of him?”

“Vulgar,” He stared into the distance, “just as vulgar as you.”

Yu Youzhi was not angry when he heard this but rather happy to be compared, “This shows just how compatible he and I are!”

Huo Annong was puzzled, “What do you like about him?”

“Don’t you think he is very interesting? Oh, yes, you think he is as vulgar as me.” He pursed his lips, seeming to feel a little pity, but soon laughed again, “That’s right, you are this kind of person Annong, you have hated me since childhood, it’s only natural that you won’t like Yu Le.” His eyes flicked over the man in front of him lightly but soon drifted off to other places, “But if you can’t even see his appeal, why should I tell you? You are the one person in this circle who doesn’t see me as the kind young man who would give up his anything for another’s well being. It’s somewhat relaxing not to put up pretences for you.”

Huo Annong clenched his fists tightly and suppressed his anger as he took another drink.

He couldn’t cause a scene in a place like this.

When he opened his mouth again, Huo Annong’s tone was much more mocking, “Yu Youzhi, how much longer are you going to continue messing around in the entertainment circle?”

He pretended to be stupid, “What?”

Snorting coldly, Huo Annong didn’t want to even pretend to buy it, “You know what I mean.”

“Hey, is Mr. President so free now that he even has time to help babysit for my parents?” Saying this, Yu Youzhi waved down a waiter to take a glass of champagne. Taking a sip, his whole face wrinkled with disgust, “Ugh…why is this so bad?”

Huo Annong lowered his eyes, “Uncle and Aunt want you to go back to inherit the family business.”

“Of course I know that,” he raised his glass and carefully observed the liquid under the lights of the banquet, “unfortunately, I am simply not destined to be the filial son that they so desire to have.”

“What do you hate about it so much?”

Shaking his glass, Yu Youzhi’s light grey pupils were sparkling with the light of the golden liquid, but there was a trace of scorn between his overly delicate brows.

Huo Annong waited patiently.

“Look at you, you are arrogant and conceited, used to despising others, just like your parents generation…Family, money, status, on the basis of what do you always think you can do whatever you want? Manipulating others for personal gain, should that be something I am used to? Something I take for granted?” He was holding the wine glass haphazardly, the liquid tumbling against its walls, “I do not wish to become like you, such garbage values are ones I would never accept. Just take this glass of champagne, it holds no value intact, it tastes disgusting after all. So, when it falls to the ground, nothing has changed fundamentally. It doesn’t matter in the slightest.”

As he said this, his hand slipped, and the glass fell in a smooth arc.

With a “pop,” the champagne splashed and mixed with the dust on the carpet.

Huo Annong snorted, “Just who really feels superior here?” He tore off his mask of politeness and looked at Yu Youzhi with abject derision, “I will faithfully convey your thoughts to Auntie.”