After entering his final year of high school, Fu Hui was almost as busy as Fu Lin.
Even so, he still insisted on learning the demon language from Lan Xi every day, as well as curling up on the sofa to read with him.
But lately, that had become rather rare…
Lan Xi would say, “Fu Hui, you can read by yourself.”
And then he would walk away.
Once would have been fine.
Perhaps Lan Xi was simply feeling lazy.
But after four or five times, something didn’t seem quite right.
Fu Hui rubbed his temples and got up to ask the bodyguards for the tablet. …Yes, that was right. He’d had the surveillance system installed again.
Ever since that time Lan Xi had deliberately fallen off the bed.
It was safer this way, wasn’t it?
Lan Xi was always coming up with the wildest ideas. Fu Hui couldn’t be sure when another sudden flash of inspiration might strike him.
It was best to keep him firmly within sight.
As it happened, the school had just introduced another round of improvements, installing cameras in the classrooms as well.
Parents could watch classroom recordings to see how their children behaved during the day.
…Pretty creepy.
Still, it certainly made it convenient for Fu Hui to see what Lan Xi did every day. Lan Xi didn’t mind him watching, either. And Fu Hui was happy to share his own daily life with Lan Xi in return.
In short, it would be creepy where other people were concerned, but for the two of them, it was just right.
Fu Hui now expertly tapped one of the little squares on his tablet.
There was Lan Xi, curled up on the bedroom sofa, clutching a script in one hand and laughing so hard he was practically doubled over.
Was Lan Xi going to appear in a comedy? What new variety of mute character would he play this time?
Fu Hui was rather looking forward to finding out.
He casually switched off the tablet, set it aside, and picked up his book again.
Then, after thinking it over, he propped the tablet back up and turned on the screen. That way, whenever he raised his head, he could see Lan Xi.
Fu Hui didn’t notice anything unusual about his own behavior.
He twirled the pen in his hand and went back to studying.
Examinations had never been difficult for him, but as the Fu family’s heir, he still had far, far too much to learn.
Before he knew it, it was ten in the evening. Fu Hui pushed open the bedroom door to get ready for bed.
He had barely stepped inside when Lan Xi hurriedly put his script away. Fu Hui grew a little suspicious. Was there something in it he wasn’t allowed to see?
“A new movie?” Fu Hui asked.
Lan Xi shook his head. “A television drama!”
Now Fu Hui really was surprised. “How many episodes is Lan Xi going to spend playing a mute?”
“…”
Lan Xi glared at him. “I’m not playing a mute this time! Fu Hui doesn’t understand, so stop asking…”
As he spoke, he pushed Fu Hui toward the bathroom. “Hurry up and take a bath. It’s bedtime.”
Fu Hui took a couple of steps forward, then turned back. “Isn’t Lan Xi taking a bath?”
Lan Xi seemed to hesitate for two seconds.
He actually hesitated for two whole seconds.
Fu Hui couldn’t help narrowing his eyes.
“Mm-hmm, I am.” Lan Xi jumped off the sofa and followed him.
Fu Hui began filling the bathtub. Steam soon rose and blurred Lan Xi’s face.
As he helped Lan Xi work up the bubbles, Fu Hui suddenly said, “If I don’t understand, Lan Xi can explain it to me.”
“Hmm…” Lan Xi drew out the sound softly, as though he were thinking.
Something caught slightly in Fu Hui’s chest. He didn’t show it, though, and simply continued, “Just like when Lan Xi doesn’t understand a problem, I’ll explain it until you do…”
Lan Xi suddenly shook his head firmly. “No. No.”
Fu Hui: “…”
Fu Hui resisted the urge to haul him straight out of the bathtub. Then he heard Lan Xi wagging his head as he pronounced, “Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire.”
Fu Hui: “…” He understood. “So you don’t like listening when I explain problems to you?”
Lan Xi shook his head like a rattle-drum. “Who would ever enjoy listening to a lesson about electricity?”
“…” Fu Hui had no answer.
And that was the end of the conversation.
After their baths, Lan Xi rolled into bed, wrapped himself in the quilt, and promptly fell asleep. Fu Hui was the only one left brooding over the matter.
Just what sort of new drama had Lan Xi agreed to appear in?
Fu Hui was still young, yet he already couldn’t help looking back on the past.
Ever since they were little, they had come home every day and talked about what had happened at school. Sometimes they couldn’t even wait until they got home. Back when they left school together, Lan Xi would often tell him everything eagerly in the car.
But now… Lan Xi wasn’t telling him anything.
Not that this was enough to stump Fu Hui.
He chose not to rummage through the script Lan Xi had left on the sofa.
Instead, he called Lan Xi’s management company to ask about it. The company’s head very tactfully offered, “Would you like to look through the material and help us evaluate it?”
“Would that be convenient?” Fu Hui asked politely.
“Of course. Of course it would be,” came the immediate reply.
“Good. Could you send me an electronic copy now?”
“…Of course we can!”
Once Fu Hui had the digital script, he could finally sleep soundly.
He had to get up early the next morning. He couldn’t stay awake reading it all night.
Instead, he saved the script for the drive to school. Lan Xi wasn’t riding with him that day anyway; he was heading to the production set.
Secretary Li was accompanying Fu Hui today. When he saw what Fu Hui was doing, he couldn’t help asking, “What are you reading?”
“Lan Xi’s new script.”
Secretary Li was surprised too. “Goodness, it’s that thick? You don’t really need to read the whole thing, do you? Wouldn’t it be better to go watch on set? After all, he only has a few minutes of screen time…”
Fu Hui frowned. “I’m worried my schedule’s too packed for me to find the time…”
After saying that, Fu Hui turned a couple of pages, then abruptly closed the script again.
His face darkened as he called the management company. “Is the production Lan Xi is visiting today the one for his new drama?”
“Yes…”
“All right, thank you.” Very politely, Fu Hui hung up without waiting for the other person to finish. Then he told Secretary Li, “We’re going to the set.”
Secretary Li: “…?”
Lan Xi had been the last person cast in this production.
The main purpose of his visit to the set today was for his agent to introduce him to the producer, screenwriter, and other actors.
On the way, Lan Xi was still reading the script and laughing delightedly at it.
His agent’s scalp was practically tingling from the sound.
But this wasn’t a comedy!
“Is it really that funny?” the agent couldn’t help asking.
Lan Xi: “Mm-hmm.”
The script told the story of two brothers. The younger brother was sickly and frail, so the older one always gave way to him. At home, the younger brother was practically a little emperor.
Lan Xi was having a wonderful time reading it. The more he thought back to his own childhood with Fu Hui, the happier he became.
As for the fact that the younger brother died of illness at the end, that didn’t matter.
Demons couldn’t die, after all.
What did matter was the sight of the older brother in the script, utterly devastated by grief. Lan Xi could imagine it perfectly: Fu Hui must love him just as much and would surely cry even louder. The comparison only made Lan Xi happier still.
It was just like a child’s game of playing house.
Even at thirteen, Lan Xi still built little scenes like this in his head.
At last, they arrived at the production set.
“I’m sorry, could you wait here for a moment?” A staff member guided them to the refreshment room.
The agent rarely encountered such treatment and muttered privately, “What’s this supposed to mean? Why are we being made to wait?”
In fact, the producer, screenwriter, and actors, both leading and supporting, had already met Fu Hui in another room.
Why had Fu Hui arrived ahead of Lan Xi? Because on the way, he’d sent a bodyguard to take Lan Xi to buy two cakes.
“Please, have a seat,” Fu Hui said.
Everyone looked from one person to another. Nobody sat down.
Although the person standing before them was only a high-school student, nobody dared treat him lightly.
Fu Hui didn’t insist. Instead, he asked, “Who’s playing Mo Heng?”
A young man nervously raised his hand. “I am.”
Mo Heng was the “older brother” of Lan Xi’s character in the script.
Fu Hui looked him over twice, then said nothing more about it. “You can talk among yourselves. Pretend I was never here.” Then he went and sat in the adjoining room.
How could anyone possibly pretend he had never been there?
The atmosphere immediately became rather stiff.
More than anything, none of them knew why Fu Hui had come, and that only made them more uneasy.
Seeing that nobody was moving, Fu Hui raised his hand and tapped on the glass window dividing the rooms. The window opened a crack, revealing a sliver of his jaw. He said quietly, “Aren’t you going to invite Lan Xi in? Don’t keep him waiting too long.”
“Oh, yes, of course!” Everyone suddenly came to their senses.
A little while later, Lan Xi arrived.
He’d already eaten one of the cakes. A bodyguard was carrying the other and offered it to the room. “This is for everyone.”
Everyone accepted the cake a little stiffly, but the gesture eased the discomfort in their hearts.
Lan Xi keenly sensed that something was a bit strange, though he couldn’t say exactly what.
He opened his mouth and asked happily, “Who’s playing the older brother?”
Why was everyone so concerned about that? the others wondered.
The same young actor silently raised his hand again. “Me.”
Lan Xi fell silent.
The young actor, meanwhile, was thoroughly struck by Lan Xi’s beauty.
When someone’s beauty was so overwhelming, you could even overlook their gender for a moment. Instinctively, the young man took two steps forward and offered Lan Xi his hand. “Hello, little brother! I look forward to working with you.”
Lan Xi reached out, barely touched the tips of his fingers, and withdrew his hand at once.
But even that fleeting “touch” left the other actor a little dazed.
It also made Fu Hui frown from behind the window.
“You two have quite a few scenes together. Why don’t you sit together and get to know each other first? This is Lan Xi’s first time trying so much dialogue, isn’t it?” The producer called the young actor by name. “Xiao Fang, help Lan Xi out.”
Xiao Fang came back to his senses and nodded enthusiastically. “Sure.”
Lan Xi suddenly announced, “I need the bathroom.”
Then he grabbed his agent and ran.
Facing the bathroom mirror, Lan Xi pointed at his own face and demanded, “Does he look like someone who could be my older brother?”
His agent: “Uh…”
To be fair, anyone who became an actor was unlikely to be particularly unattractive.
But put that young man beside Lan Xi, and even a pearl would look like a fish eye.
Lan Xi asked again, “Is he even half as good-looking as Fu Hui?”
“Uh… no.” Privately, the agent thought, But that young master of yours isn’t about to become an actor.
Lan Xi protested fiercely. “I don’t want him playing the older brother! Replace him! Replace him!”
“I’m afraid that may be difficult. The investors settled on him ages ago, unless…” Unless your actual big brother gets involved. The agent hadn’t finished speaking.
Lan Xi snapped angrily, “Then I’m not acting in it!”
He turned around and stalked off in a fury.
Through the thin bathroom door, Fu Hui had heard every word clearly.
The instant he heard Lan Xi rushing out, he grabbed the nearby window frame, vaulted through the window, and sprinted all the way back to Lan Xi’s car.
The driver was utterly startled to see him. “Young Master, what are you doing here?”
Fu Hui lied. “I’m here to pick up Lan Xi.”
Then he pulled open the car door and sat down.
Two minutes later, Lan Xi emerged, his cheeks puffed up with anger.
Fu Hui watched him through the car window.
Even angry, he was still adorable.
Lan Xi yanked the car door open. “…Fu Hui?”
Fu Hui’s breathing was even as he answered calmly, “Mm.”
Lan Xi asked in delight, “What are you doing here?”
“They told me you were a little upset, so I came to pick you up.” Fu Hui paused. “Who made you angry?”
Lan Xi tried to hold it in but couldn’t. “That actor isn’t as tall as Fu Hui, or as good-looking as Fu Hui, and his legs aren’t as long as Fu Hui’s either… What a disappointment!”
Fu Hui didn’t ask why he was comparing another actor to him. He only listened, his heart thudding so hard he felt as if he might take flight.
“Fu Hui… why is there sweat on your forehead?” Lan Xi suddenly asked.
“…I was worried about you, so I hurried a bit.”
“Oh.”
Fu Hui stroked Lan Xi’s hair. “I understand now…”
“Understand what?”
“Why Lan Xi doesn’t like anyone else in the family calling me Big Brother.”
Lan Xi’s eyes lit up. “Oh! Are you finally going to sell them all?”
Fu Hui: “…Lan Xi, trafficking people is a crime.”
Lan Xi pouted. “Oh.”
He slumped into Fu Hui’s arms, still sulking. “Let’s go home.”
Now that Fu Hui was growing up, he vaguely realized that this mutual possessiveness might not be such a good thing.
But he couldn’t quite work out what was wrong with it…
All he knew was that he was happy from the bottom of his heart.
In Lan Xi’s eyes, nobody could compare to him.
Fu Hui didn’t want Lan Xi’s excitement to have been for nothing, either. After considering it, he simply called the producer.
Lan Xi’s role in the drama was settled after all.
The script was merely revised a little. The young actor would play one of the brothers opposite someone else, while Lan Xi took on a new character. That character’s “older brother” would exist only in the things the character said; no actual actor would appear in the role.
Fu Hui even generously contributed some material for the screenwriter to use.
That way, Lan Xi could introduce this “older brother” to the entire world without anyone else having to portray him.
Fu Hui himself didn’t know why the thought filled him with a secret thrill.