CH 53

The corner of Xie Luyu’s mouth twitched. He smiled, revealing one of his canines. He came off as a little bit unfriendly.

He gave a simple hum in response. This could be considered his greeting to Cheng Xian. 

Cheng Xian’s agent quietly took a few steps back. He kept a firm grip on Cheng Xian. Cheng Xian tried to throw him off twice, but he didn’t manage to shake him off. However, he didn’t compromise either. He just maintained that posture as he spoke.

One thing about Cheng Xian was that he had the guts to say anything. His agent had been managing for so long, but even he couldn’t tell whether Cheng Xian was actually mean or just really stupid.

Xie Luyu had been standing for a while, so he leaned against the wall. He quietly decided to give Cheng Xian a warning. His words were very subtle.

“Mr. Cheng’s a very lively person. You really suited that childcare variety show that you were on a couple days ago. Audiences love lively kids like you these days.” 

Cheng Xian still had a bright smile on his face. It looked as if flowers were blooming in the background.

“Mr. Xie doesn’t seem to fit childcare variety shows. You’ve maintained yourself well. It’s hard to tell that you’re getting up there in age. However, your actual age isn’t something that can be changed. Your family must be urging you to get married, right?”

This sudden attack cut straight towards Xie Luyu’s heart. Cheng Xian managed to hit his sore spot.

Xie Luyu sneered. He still didn’t want to show any weakness.

“Sorry to disappoint. That is not an issue for me.”

“In that case, you’re very lucky that your family supported your choice to remain unmarried.”

“There’s nothing wrong with remaining unmarried, but I do plan on getting married. Don’t go making wild guesses.”

The topic of conversation had swerved towards an unexpected direction. 

Gu Qingchi picked up his towel and wiped the sweat away from his jawline. He listened carefully and softly hummed in response.

Both of them turned their heads to look at Gu Qingchi.

Gu Qingchi paused. He had no choice but to explain himself.

“Well, remaining unmarried is pretty good.” 

Xie Luyu, who was fuming, and Cheng Xian, who was playing innocent, were both completely dumbfounded. Actually, it’s not that good…

Cheng Xian looked at Gu Qingchi and hesitated. He still had something to say. His agent quickly made a move to grab him.

Unfortunately, he was one step too late. Cheng Xian approached Gu Qingchi and expressed his concerns.

It stood to reason that he shouldn’t be interfering with someone else’s private affairs. However, if Gu Qingchi chose not to marry, what was his little brother supposed to do? There was a lot that young people didn’t know. He still needed to persuade them when necessary. 

“You’re my junior. You could be considered somewhat of a younger brother to me. The stuff I have to say might not be pleasant to hear, but you’re still young. You’re not the same as Mr. Xie. Mr. Xie’s age is already up there. He’s already experienced everything that he’s needed to. He’s not going to regret anything, but you’re different…”

Gu Qingchi was a good listener. He would always listen to whatever anyone had to say. He nodded his head from time to time. It wasn’t clear whether he had actually taken it to heart, but, either way, Cheng Xian was very happy.

Xie Luyu had been stabbed several times within this conversation.

He was old. He turned twenty-seven this year. He was pushing thirty. 

He’d already experienced everything he needed to. He had a history of marriage.

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Xie Luyu knew of Cheng Xian. Before, he had felt that the kid was pretty good.

Now, Cheng Xian was nothing more than a white lotus in Xie Luyu’s eyes. This guy was a scheming little bitch! 

Originally, Xie Luyu had only been a little cold. Now, Xie Luyu was absolutely frigid.

Cheng Xian’s agent went pale.

Cheng Xian wasn’t affected at all. He happily finished saying everything he had to say. He ignored Xie Luyu’s death stare and exchanged several glances with Gu Qingchi. Then, He finally nodded and made a “call me” getsure next to his ear.

Xie Luyu didn’t know what Gu Qingchi saw in that gaze, but, when they made eye contact, he slightly nodded. 

Cheng Xian left, satisfied. He even waved his hand before leaving.

“I’m leaving then. Bye, everyone!”

The two of them reached a perfect consensus right before Xie Luyu’s eyes. Xie Luyu felt a strong sense of crisis.

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Xiao Gu was way too easy to deceive, and people these days were way too complex. He had already been tricked once before! What if he got tricked again?

The more Xie Luyu thought about it, the more worried he became. He coughed and cleared his throat. Then, he walked over to Gu Qingchi’s side and decided to give Xiao Gu a heads up.

“Tbecu wfc atfrf vjsr jii jma bc lwqeirf. Ktfs’gf cba rajyif—” 

Gu Qingchi suddenly raised his eyes and looked at Xie Luyu.

Xie Luyu subconsciously stopped. Gu Qingchi’s eyes were very clear and earnest. When Gu Qingchi looked at him like this, that tiny little inclination of his seemed to vanish into thin air.

Xie Luyu was very thick-skinned. He could spew all kinds of nonsense for days on end, but, right now, nothing would come out of his mouth.

He bent down. Then, he lowered his voice, making him seem a little more gentle. 

“I’m making fish tonight.”

Gu Qingchi suddenly smiled. Sure enough, it was warm by his side.

“Mn.”

Even after a couple days, there still wasn’t any news from Cheng Xian, and Xie Luyu gradually put his guard down. This was just a snot-nosed brat. He wasn’t a threat. 

Gu Qingchi’s dance lessons weren’t over yet.

Xie Luyu would follow along everyday as if he was clocking into work or something. Then, he would stay in Pan Xiaocheng’s office whenever he had nothing to do.

Today was one of the rare days in which Pan Xiaocheng didn’t nag at him. He glanced at Xie Luyu with a heavy look in his eyes.

“Xie Luyu, tell the truth. You’ve been tainted, haven’t you? I’m starting to realize that you’re not the same as you were before.” 

Xie Luyu glanced at him. Then, he continued typing away on his phone, tap, tap, tap.

He was busy looking for funny and interesting things online. He wanted to send it to Xiao Gu to cheer him up. He didn’t have time to waste on unimportant people, such as Pan Xiaocheng.

However, for the sake of his image, Xie Lu reluctantly spared him a sliver of attention.

“Don’t slander me. I’ve always been clean and pure.” 

Pan Xiaocheng was exceptionally indignant.

“No, you’ve changed. You’re trying to take advantage of the kids downstairs, aren’t you?”

Xie Luyu put down his phone. He crossed his legs and sat up straight. He was clearly starting to get serious.

Actually, Xie Luyu hadn’t planned on hiding it from Pan Xiaocheng. He also wasn’t a child anymore. He wasn’t thin-skinned. He would probably have to lie low in front of the media, but it wasn’t anything he couldn’t admit in front of his friends. 

Just as he was about to speak, Pan Xiaocheng quickly interrupted him. He placed his hand across his heart and pointed a trembling finger towards Xie Luyu.

“Don’t argue with me! You’ve changed! I’m so disappointed in you!”

Xie Luyu blankly stared at him for a full three seconds.

“Oh.” 

Pan Xiaocheng moved to the sofa and asked sincerely.

“Why aren’t you explaining yourself? Shouldn’t you be—no, forget it. I won’t listen. You’re just going to spout nonsense.”

This time, Xie Luyu didn’t even look at him. He simply turned his back towards him.

“Hey, I was wrong. I was wrong, okay? Just tell me already. What’s going on? This is a big deal.” 

After bickering back and forth for a bit, Xie Luyu put away his phone and sat on the sofa like he ruled it or something.

Halfway through his explanation, he started putting on airs.

“Ah, my throat is a little sore—”

Pan Xiaocheng handed him some water. He slapped a hand to his thigh. He was so anxious that his accent started coming out. 

“Hurry up and drink. Gosh, you’re stressing me out.”

“It all began a long, long time ago.”

Then, Xie Luyu rambled on for another ten pages.

After listening to all of his nonsense, Pan Xiaocheng finally grasped the key points. 

He snatched the water from Xie Luyu’s hands.

“You don’t deserve this. All you ever do is sit around and stir up trouble.”

Pan Xiaocheng lamented.

“Just how old is he anyway? He isn’t even fully grown. Besides, there’s a generation gap. I can’t believe you put your hands on him.” 

Xie Luyu scoffed and put his phone on the table. When he leaned forward, the phone seemed dwarfed in comparison. His fingers kept scrolling across the screen.

“The old one here is you. I’m not from the same generation as you. I’m still young, so I’m a good match.”

Pan Xiaocheng suddenly got serious.

“Okay, but let’s be real. Are you actually serious about him? Or are you just playing around?” 

“Why are you saying something so unpleasant? Who’s playing around? I’m an honest person. I’m pursuing him with marriage in mind. Marriage is a sacred thing. Please have some respect for the sanctity of marriage.”

“Then, your previous marriage…”

Those words weren’t very convincing.

Xie Luyu froze. His two-year marriage hadn’t had much of a presence in his life. He hadn’t thought too much about it before. 

He lowered his head and fell silent. He was no longer paying attention to his phone.

Xie Luyu himself was the product of a failed marriage.

However, he didn’t get disappointed like other children in his position might have. Rather, he longed for love. Ever since he was a child, he had decided that he would not have an arranged marriage. He wanted to find someone that he was deeply in love with. He also had a very serious attitude towards the idea of marriage.

At that time, he had even told Pan Xiaocheng that he would not film kissing scenes. Instead, he would use camera angles to make it look like a kiss. He wanted to save his first kiss for his lover. 

Pan Xiaocheng had almost burst into laughter on the spot. This kind of attitude was hard to come by, let alone in the entertainment industry. However, Xie Luyu continued to maintain this somewhat ridiculous rule of his. Even now, he would use camera angles and movie magic for his kissing scenes.

However, all of this ended up being a huge joke.

The boy who had blushed at the very mention of kisses ended up missing out on the process of falling in love.

Inexplicably, he was married off without his knowledge. All he received was a measly little notice. 

This was the one thing that Xie Luyu refused to even talk about.

The documents from the divorce were still sitting in some corner of Pan Xiaocheng’s office. Xie Luyu had only touched it once. He took it from Pan Xiaocheng’s hands. Then, he threw them into some corner.

Pan Xiaocheng patted Xie Luyu on the shoulder. It could be said that he had watched Xie Luyu grow up.

At the time of that incident, Xie Luyu was still young. His peers had all been in several relationships, but Xie Luyu had never been interested in anyone. 

Now, he finally had someone he liked. To be honest, Pan Xiaocheng was rather happy for him.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t seem to keep a lid on his cheap mouth. He brought up some not-so-pleasant memories.

Pan Xiaocheng wanted nothing more than to slap himself across the face. He thought carefully about what he should say next.

“It’s not your fault. You don’t have to hide it. Just explain it to him. I think he seems pretty reasonable and good-tempered…” 

Xie Luyu uncharacteristically did not respond. Pan Xiaocheng’s voice became smaller and smaller. After a while, Pan Xiaocheng heard Xie Luyu speak.

“I haven’t told him yet.”

“I don’t have the guts to tell him.”

“I’m afraid he’ll think I’m dirty.” 

The sky was overcast. There was a little bit of a drizzle.

Xie Luyu was in a flower shop. The weather was a little cold nowadays.

He came here on a motorcycle decked out in a super cool outfit.

He wore a leather jacket and a short sleeve shirt underneath. The jacket was open, revealing his collarbone. He had a rope necklace hanging around his neck. Little accessories carved from bone were woven into it. His jeans had holes ripped into them. 

He also wore a beanie, fingerless gloves, and, as usual, a mask.

Xie Luyu had two rings on his fingers and a stud in his ear. His motorcycle was parked right outside the shop.

He looked a little rebellious and very, very cool.

At this moment, he was standing in a flower shop full of various flowers. He listened carefully as the clerk explained the meaning of each flower. 

After hesitating again and again, he finally settled on baby’s breath.

The clerk wrapped up the flowers for him. She held the bouquet in her arms, her hands full of baby’s breath.

Xie Luyu held the bottom part of the bouquet. He looked very relaxed. He was really tall so the flowers seemed even smaller in comparison.

The clerk gave him another look. 

“It means silent love or a love like the stars. Your girlfriend will definitely be very happy.”

Xie Luyu’s eyes curved into a smile.

“Boyfriend. We’re not together yet. It’s still a bit too early to say that.”

The clerk was stunned and a little surprised. She wasn’t surprised that it was for a boyfriend. People were a lot more open nowadays. Other than a few old-fashioned people, not too many people cared anymore. 

She just didn’t expect a guy like this would also have someone that he couldn’t get.

This flower shop was close to Xie Luyu’s current residence.

The surrounding area wasn’t very busy, but the buildings were beautiful. There was a boulevard just up ahead. Even further down were suburbs and forests.

The streets were lined with brick walls on both sides. The coffee shop next door had a door plate made of decorative wiring. It was a very suitable place to live. 

Xie Luyu didn’t plan on riding the motorcycle back. The apartment wasn’t too far away, so he planned to walk home like this.

The sky was a bit cloudy, and there weren’t a lot of people on the street. Still, everyone who passed him by couldn’t help giving him a second glance.

Although he didn’t show his face, his clothes were still well-coordinated, and his body proportions were good. He was tall, and he had long legs. He looked handsome even from the back.

He was dressed in a handsome and cool fashion, yet he had a bouquet of baby’s breath in his arms. The contrast had a unique sort of charm to it. 

It was as if the smell of gasoline had been mixed with the fragrance of the flowers.

The birthday surprise that he had prepared had to be canceled because Gu Qingchi had been really tired.

Now was the perfect time to make up for it.

Xie Luyu had prepared everything perfectly this time. He already told Gu Qingchi to come back for dinner. He also told the dance teacher in advance to give Gu Qingchi a little less homework so that he could relax. 

Xie Luyu walked through the streets with his flowers. He was about halfway home when his phone vibrated. He had set his phone up so that he would only receive notifications from important contacts.

He stopped and shifted the bouquet onto one hand. Then, he pulled his phone out of the side pocket of his jacket.

The screen had already lit up. A message had popped up.

[I have something to do tonight, so I won’t be back.]