Lian Jue Xiu was considering whether he should charge in and help when the sound of rushing water came from inside.
A little while later, the door opened.
Lian Jue Xiu was just about to make a few jokes when a pale, skinny hand reached out from inside.
“……”
The last stall in the restroom?
Wasn’t that every ghost’s favorite stall number in horror movies?
Lian Jue Xiu said gravely, “Jia Zhi Qing! Are you still alive?”
A groan came from inside. Jia Zhi Qing said weakly, “If you’re willing to come over and pull me up, I’ll be a little more alive.”
Covering his nose, Lian Jue Xiu walked over. Jia Zhi Qing was sitting on the floor, panting, his forehead covered in cold sweat. His belt had been fastened carelessly, leaving a long section hanging outside instead of threaded through the loops, a clear sign of how miserable the situation had been.
“You…” Lian Jue Xiu held out a hand, then quickly pulled it back halfway and frowned. “Did you wash your hands?”
Jia Zhi Qing rolled his eyes. “With the tap water inside my body?”
“……”
Lian Jue Xiu took out his phone. “I’d better call an ambulance.”
“It’s not that serious.” This was the first time Jia Zhi Qing had ever heard of someone going to the hospital because diarrhea had dragged him there.
“But they have stretchers.” That way, Lian Jue Xiu could avoid any skin contact.
“……”
Jia Zhi Qing forcibly gathered enough strength to shout, “Don’t call! I can’t afford that humiliation.”
“At least then you won’t have to explain all eighteen generations of your ancestors to my mom tonight.” Lian Jue Xiu paused. “Of course, today’s fee still counts as a full day.”
“……” Jia Zhi Qing waved a hand. “Go ahead. Humiliate me.”
Now that he had permission, Lian Jue Xiu made a grand production of it.
Before long, everyone saw a group of people dressed in white rush inside carrying a stretcher and head straight for the restroom. A little while later, the stretcher came back out with an additional plaid suit lying on it and was hurried away.
The emergency personnel moved so quickly that nobody had time to get a clear look at the condition of the person on the stretcher.
Naturally, the banquet immediately became lively again. Lian Jue Xiu in particular was busy: first he stopped Xiao Bai, who was about to follow, and explained what had happened so Xiao Bai would not worry; then Mother Lian caught him and questioned him thoroughly from head to toe.
After that, Zhang Jia Jia and the others came over one after another to express their concern.
Wave after wave of people came to ask questions. Finally, Lian Jue Xiu could no longer take it. He pulled out his phone, pretended to answer a call, and shouted loudly, “What? What? Urgent? Very urgent? How urgent? More urgent than Mars crashing into Earth? Wait there! I’m coming right now.”
He stuffed the phone into his pocket and addressed the people still surrounding him for firsthand information about Jia Zhi Qing. “Sorry, sorry, I have some Mars business to deal with. I’ll be leaving first. Sorry, sorry.” As he spoke, he squeezed his way out through the crowd.
By the time he finally broke through, he discovered Mother Lian already waiting for him beside the elevator.
“You’re going to see that child, aren’t you?” she asked with a smile.
Cold sweat immediately slid down the back of Lian Jue Xiu’s head. “Y-yes. Of course I am.”
Mother Lian took his hand and patted it. “Don’t worry. That child has an honest face. He doesn’t look short-lived.”
I’m not worried. I’m not worried at all.
At least Lian Jue Xiu had never heard of anyone dying because they accidentally kept having diarrhea until they dropped dead. His only concern was that Jia Zhi Qing might jump out of the ambulance halfway to the hospital and go home.
Fortunately, inspiration came quickly. He immediately called Jia Zhi Qing. “Which room are you in at First Hospital? My mom and I are coming to visit you.”
The ambulance door opened. Jia Zhi Qing had just begun putting one foot down when his phone rang, and Lian Jue Xiu’s disastrous news traveled through the wireless signal.
Jia Zhi Qing broke into a sweat.
After hanging up, he flopped backward and cried miserably, “No, it hurts again.” Then his entire body twisted like a fried dough twist.
“……”
The emergency worker dragged him back inside and said meaningfully, “This isn’t a train, and you’re not a stowaway. That man already paid your fare for the entire trip. Sit tight.”
Jia Zhi Qing: “……”
The moment Lian Jue Xiu left, Yan Su Ang and Zhang Jia Jia immediately became the targets of everyone’s attack.
Yan Su Ang reacted quickly, but before he could reach the safe zone around Gao Qin, the crowd had already surrounded him completely.
Instinctively, he shielded Xiao Bai behind his arm.
On the other side, Zhang Jia Jia was also swept along by the crowd, and her circle of people rapidly merged with theirs.
The moment so many people gathered, the space became cramped.
Xiao Bai was small, so Yan Su Ang had no choice but to keep him completely behind himself to prevent the pushing crowd from separating them.
Yan Su Ang and Zhang Jia Jia were squeezed together, and everyone around them smiled meaningfully.
Chen De Zhang egged them on. “Things fell apart for you two in the movie. Any chance of a happy ending outside the movie?”
Yan Su Ang countered, “Which magazine hired you, and how much are they paying?”
Chen De Zhang chuckled. “It’s not easy for your little brother here to earn some extra money. Great God, give me a little inside information so I’ll have something to turn in.”
Yan Su Ang smiled. “What kind of news would Jia Jia and I make? You’d be better off making up something about Gao Qin and me, or Jue Xiu and me. That would attract more attention.”
Chen De Zhang said, “I don’t dare offend those two Buddhas, do I?”
“So you spotted that I’m easy to bully?” Yan Su Ang raised an eyebrow, the threat perfectly obvious.
Zhang Jia Jia smiled and joined in. “Or did you think I was easy to bully?”
Chen De Zhang immediately admitted defeat and retreated.
The people beside him instantly booed.
Tan Fei, standing nearby, suddenly asked, “Great God, why are you hiding Xiao Bai behind you?”
“……”
Everyone froze at once, then peered behind Great God as though they had discovered a new continent.
Yan Su Ang frowned inwardly and shifted slightly to the side, only to discover that Xiao Bai had actually leaned half his body weight against Yan Su Ang’s back. The moment Yan moved, Xiao Bai swayed, startling him into quickly turning around and catching him.
Xiao Bai rubbed his eyes in confusion and yawned.
Chen De Zhang stared in disbelief. “So Xiao Bai was using Great God as a bed just now?”
Someone answered, “A body pillow!”
Another person sighed. “What an expensive body pillow.”
Chen De Zhang said, “Yan Su Ang, Yan Su Ang—of course he’s expensive.”
Elio’s Notes: The joke is on the character 昂 in Yan Su Ang’s name and 昂贵, meaning “expensive.”
“……”
Everyone’s faces froze, and the scene fell deathly silent.
Chen De Zhang laughed awkwardly. “Uh… that joke was a little cold.”
It was more than a little cold. It was extraordinarily cold.
Nobody said the words aloud, but their eyes expressed them without the slightest attempt to hide it.
Yan Su Ang glanced at him. “You’re pretty good at finding yourself a way down.”
Chen De Zhang laughed dryly. “Tell enough cold jokes and you naturally learn how.”
Seeing Xiao Bai looking utterly exhausted, Yan Su Ang closed his mouth and stopped wasting time bantering with him.
The group made noise for a while, but when neither of the people involved gave them much reaction, they could only disperse awkwardly.
Yan Su Ang took the opportunity to pull Xiao Bai away from the party.
When they reached the parking lot, Gao Qin was standing in front of the Lamborghini talking on his phone. Seeing them, he gestured for them to wait.
Yan Su Ang had no choice but to lean against the car door and let Xiao Bai lean against his chest to continue dozing.
Gao Qin ended the call.
Seeing a trace of pleasure on Gao Qin’s face, Yan Su Ang asked, “Feng Ya Lun is back?”
“He still needs a little more time. It’s about Xiao Bai.”
Yan Su Ang immediately became more alert.
“NCC is giving him another new variety show, and he’ll still be the lead host. Apparently, upper management has drawn up a two-year priority-development list, and Xiao Bai ranks second.” NCC was one of the strongest television stations in the country when it came to variety shows. If they intended to cultivate Xiao Bai as a priority, becoming hugely popular was only a matter of time.
Yan Su Ang smiled with genuine happiness. “As they should.”
Gao Qin said, “Then apparently there’s nothing in this world that shouldn’t happen.”
Yan Su Ang glared at him unhappily. “What’s wrong with Xiao Bai?”
Gao Qin said, “……He suits you perfectly.”
Yan Su Ang was very satisfied with that answer.
Gao Qin was equally satisfied with what he had said.
Whether it counted as praise or an insult depended entirely on the listener.
“But have you thought of a plan?” Gao Qin asked.
After all, Yan Su Ang and Xiao Bai were both celebrities, and when it came to exposure, one plus one produced more than two. The media were especially jumpy now; the slightest movement was difficult to escape their eyes. And Gao Qin knew that neither Yan Su Ang nor Xiao Bai was the sort who liked putting on a performance in public and then hiding in private.
Yan Su Ang said, “It doesn’t matter. I’ve already won everything I was supposed to win, experienced everything I was supposed to experience, and built up all the capital I need. I can do anything afterward.” He paused, then said calmly, “I could leave the entertainment industry too.”
Gao Qin froze. He had never expected Yan Su Ang to be thinking along those lines. Yan Su Ang was currently at the absolute peak of his career. His position in the entertainment industry was not merely that of Weijie’s number-one star; calling him the number-one male star in the domestic entertainment industry would not be an exaggeration. “Aren’t you afraid you’ll regret it?” Achievements like this were not available to everyone. Besides ability and external advantages, they required the right time, place, and circumstances.
“I am.” Yan Su Ang quietly tightened his arm around the person in his embrace, his brows and eyes filled with tenderness. “I’m afraid that if I don’t have this resolve, I’ll regret it later.” From the moment he decided he was going to stay entangled with Xiao Bai to the end, that determination had already begun taking shape, and he intended to hold to it.
“What about Xiao Bai?”
“People are always selfish. Of course, selfishly, I hope he’ll feel the same way I do. But…” He suddenly fell silent. Only after a long while did he slowly say, “No matter what happens, I’ll respect his choice.”
Gao Qin could not help being moved.
At least when it came to the words respect his choice, Gao Qin had done far too little and had wronged Feng Ya Lun far too much.
Thinking of this, he could not help sighing.
The two men fell silent at the same time.
Xiao Bai slept soundly, clearly unaware that just moments ago, two other people had been fervently discussing his lifelong future.
Yan Su Ang lovingly brushed the hair away from his forehead. Lian Jue Xiu had been dissatisfied with parts of the footage and had reshot them a few days earlier, with Xiao Bai appearing in many of those scenes. For those several days, Xiao Bai had been sleeping only about two hours a day.
Looking at them, Gao Qin suddenly said, “You’ve got plenty of determination and far too little action.”
Yan Su Ang raised an eyebrow. “For example?”
“Xiao Bai still doesn’t seem to understand how you feel about him.”
“……” Yan Su Ang sighed. “I’m afraid of frightening him. You know that even though his thoughts can be strange sometimes, he’s actually very traditional. If I’m going to pierce through that final layer of paper between us, I should at least wait until I’m a little more certain.”
Gao Qin shrugged. “This is the first time I’ve heard there’s a Year of the Snail in the Chinese zodiac.”
Yan Su Ang immediately counterattacked. “Compared with years of standing still while one of you chases and the other runs away, I’m a tractor at worst.”
Gao Qin said meaningfully, “When Ya Lun went to the airport back then, he was using crutches.” With that, he leisurely walked toward his own car.
“……”
Yan Su Ang, of course, knew perfectly well why Ya Lun had needed crutches.
He looked down at the soft black hair on Xiao Bai’s head and murmured, “I’d really like to see Xiao Bai on crutches too.”
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