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Chapter 12
“Big brother?” As soon as he left the bar, Lu Guanguan’s phone call came, and Lu Bai was surprised, so he answered the phone, “Guanguan, what’s wrong?”
“Brother,” Lu Guanguan’s lovely and clear voice sounded over the phone, “When are you coming back to your apartment? Auntie Liu cooked some of your favorite dishes and we brought them over for you.” Her brother had said that he was too bored just sitting at home and went out for a walk earlier. Then he sent a message to the family chat saying that he was going to stay at his apartment tonight. They felt worried for some reason, so they went over to his apartment.
Lu Bai’s heart surged with warmth, he looked up at the sky and the neon lights under the canopy: “Guanguan, I’m going to stay at a friend’s house instead tonight. Just put the food in the fridge, I’ll eat it tomorrow when I get back.” After all, the bruise on his face won’t go away for a while, and it will cause an uproar if his family sees it. To be on the safe side, it’s better for him to stay at a nearby hotel for now.
Lu Guanguan froze but still said yes, if her brother had really made a friend it was something to be happy about, and so was seeing him tomorrow.
It was getting late, and Lu Bai felt tired after such a beating, and he walked idly towards a hotel with his hands in his pockets, yawning with drowsiness.
Hiss. The corner of his mouth was torn and painful. Lu Bai stopped, suddenly thinking of how he left in a hurry today and hadn’t thought to bring his ID. The Lu family’s hotel always has a room open for him to stay whenever, but the manager had loose lips and was simply the most faithful megaphone for his family. If he saw his face, the next day not only his father but even his grandfather, who lives in Yanling, would have been alerted.
“Are you not gonna head home? It’s pretty late.”
A nice baritone sounded behind him unexpectedly. Lu Bai’s pupils shrank as he jerked around, it was the main protagonist Qu Xueyu. Lu Bai instinctively emitted some defensiveness on the surface and was about to feign a disgusted expression, only to see the other party looking at himself with some familiarity as he bent his eyes in a smile, some teasing in his voice: “Little liar.”
When Lu Bai heard this name, he realized that the person in front of him was dressed completely differently from the Qu Xueyu he had seen today, so his guard fell away entirely and he shrugged: “There is no way I can go home for now.” Perhaps it was because of that night, but in front of Ruan Jiangjiu outside of the plot, he didn’t want to pretend, and neither did he want to lie – although, it may be a little dangerous.
Lu Bai looked at the neon-lit man and blinked: “What about you? Why are you out here so late, Xiao Ruan?”
Ruan Jiangjiu looked at the young man’s lively and relaxed face with a soft sigh. The young man only relaxed his guard towards this false identity. When dealing with “Qu Xueyu”, excluding the obvious and sharp rejection as well as disgust, the young man seems to be hiding something else that goes deeper.
“I came out for a casual stroll.” Ruan Jiangjiu recalls that the teenager had just been blankly looking around, so he asked, “Do you have somewhere to go tonight?”
Biu!
Right into the heart of the matter, Lu Bai somewhat weakly rolled his eyes, but there was nothing that he could say.
“Then let’s go, I’ll take you home.” Ruan Jiangjiu smiled under the neon lights, looking like he was the world’s brightest and most pristine jewel. Lu Bai looked a little stunned for a while and then nodded like a good boy. Ruan Jiangjiu couldn’t help but reach out and rub the other’s fluffy hair.
Despite the fact that it is getting late, there were still a few pedestrians outside. One girl had held up her cell phone to secretly take pictures, and from time to time, she looked over with a face of excitement and a desire to speak. Finally, she could not resist going forward, first looking at Lu Bai in confusion, and then looking at Ruan Jiangjiu with an excited face: “Excuse me, are you Qu Xueyu? The Movie Emperor Qu?”
Ruan Jiangjiu subtly paused, before answering her with great ease and without any sense of guilt, “No. I’m sorry, you’ve got the wrong person.”
The young girl was a little disappointed, but was still convinced. She had some doubts just now about how Qu Xueyu could have appeared on the streets of Jinghai in the middle of the night with a young man wearing such cheap clothes without even trying to disguise himself. She had also brushed up on his fan news yesterday, which said he should be in Chunming City now.
Despite her disappointment, the girl kept the photo, apologized to the two for misidentifying them, and left.
After the unexpected encounter, Lu Bai glanced at Ruan Jiangjiu. Being mistaken for Qu Xueyu while having dreams of being an actor himself, he should be feeling quite sad now… With that thought in mind, Lu Bai patted Ruan Jiangjiu’s shoulder: “Xiao Ruan, don’t be sad. You will also have many fans in the future.” Thinking about it, he added, “Anyway, don’t let this discourage you. You are much better looking than Qu Xueyu. You will definitely be more popular than he is in the future.”
With rather mixed feelings, Ruan Jiangjiu nodded: “Thanks for your auspicious words.”
~~~~~
It was nearly midnight after they had returned to his apartment on Fuyu Road. After he came out of the shower, Qu Xueyu saw that the young man who said he would wait for him had fallen asleep on the sofa under a blanket. His black hair was a little messy and damp from his own shower, and the bruise on his cheek looked more serious under the light.
This young man always had a domineering look in front of him as “Qu Xueyu”, but was soft and endearing when he falls asleep before “Ruan Jiangjiu” with no precaution.
Ruan Jiangjiu frowned slightly. The bruise on Lu Bai’s face was really noticeable.
There are boiled eggs on his table, so Ruan Jiangjiu sat down next to Lu Bai, peeled the shells, and held the boiled egg in his hand. He looked at the younger man’s sleeping face and reached out to press the soft egg against the other’s red and swollen cheek1Chinese remedy for bruises, it confused all of us..
“Mmm.”
Lu Bai frowned slightly, confused. He opened his eyes and then crashed into the clear, clean eyes of Ruan Jiangjiu.
When he realized what Ruan Jiangjiu was doing, a warmth welled up in Lu Bai’s heart.
“Thanks,” he earnestly remarked.
“Does it still hurt?”
Lu Bai blinked, but still nodded, his face betraying some grievance: “Actually, it really hurts.” Lu Bai thought people are really too vulnerable at night, revealing their own vulnerabilities so easily. Ruan Jiangjiu was one of the bizarre and wonderful types who could make others drop their guard so easily.
“I’ll buy some medicine for you tomorrow.” Ruan Jiangjiu’s movements became lighter, and his voice was cool and gentle, like a lullaby.
Lu Bai nodded: “Okay.”
~~~ Later, In the bedroom~~~
Lu Bai was once again wrapped in the plush fuzzy blanket, holding the same small rabbit lamp as last time. He was actually very tired from today, but his heart was filled with a strange sense of peacefulness.
“Xiao Ruan,” Lu Bai was so drowsy that he was on the verge of falling asleep, but he still managed to ask, “Is that bastard boss of yours treating you well?” He didn’t believe that only one warning was enough for that kind of lustful bastard.
On the floor, Ruan Jiangjiu was resting on his arm, a light smile floated on his lips: “It’s been fine.”
“Xiao Ruan, you have to protect yourself.” Lu Bai slipped into half-sleep, muttering, “Be careful of bastards like your boss and me.” Having finished his speech, he finally sank into a complete slumber.
Ruan Jiangjiu laughed as he looked at the ceiling. There was a shallow, even breathing from the other in his ears.
‘You’re the one who has to protect yourself, Little Liar. You’re not a bastard either.’ He mused inwardly.
Then, he closed his eyes.
———-
Edited: Krone
Proofread: Mao
Egg??
Shiotamari:  uhhh, so many questions? Why are they there, why did he put it on his face? Is this a Chinese medical thing? Do research when editing
(Later)
It is a home remedy, still undecided whether it works or not but a warm egg is supposed to help with blood circulation.
Krone:   NGL, this confuses me. XD I believe the standard is to put ice xD due to that, perhaps it’s best to footnote this xD a simple explanation “this is similar to when someone gets a bruise and they put an ice pack or a bag of frozen peas on the swollen area” just in this case, it’s a chinese home remedy version
Mao:     I’m surprised yet not surprised with this XD I’ve heard of being wrapped with a leek when one has a fever. The effectiveness is questionable but I’ve learned to accept such remedies XD
1Chinese remedy for bruises, it confused all of us.