Then he quickly goes into his own room and locks the door.
Looking at Shao Yanxi closing the door without hesitation, Liu Yu’an also feels a bit cold inside.
With his efforts these days, he thought Shao Yanxi would at least not be as distant to him even if he still doesn’t like him very much.
But it seems… Well, the saying goes that women are as hard to read as metres in a needle in the ocean; it seems it’s also the case for men.
The next day, Shao Yanxi is at work. Since Liu Yu’an is free, he heads to the national theatre to be put on display by Mrs. Jiang Chunli for the other seniors of the theatre.
At noon, Liu Yu’an hesitates for a while before deciding to still order the takeout he used to order for Shao Yanxi when he was away at his movie shooting.
Someone saw him ordering takeout and wonders, “the troupe captain said he’s treating everyone, Xiao-Liu you don’t need to order takeout.”
It’s the female lead of the Chinese opera performance Liu Yu’an just saw.
He says, “I’m ordering it for my significant other.”
“Your significant other?” The senior performer is quite surprised, “I thought that’s taboo in the entertainment industry proper.”
“It depends,” Liu Yu’an replies.
“Xiao-Liu, you are already in a relationship?” The others then all say in surprise.
One of the respected elder actors say, touched, “ah, to be young, Xiao-Liu, you said you’re 24 right?” Then he turns to the seniors present, “look at you all, you’re closing in on 30 and some of you are about to be middle-aged, even. You should go look for romance now, or you’ll be left with no one but yourself.”
“I’m just 22, there’s still time,” a young actress jumps away from the group of pitiable singles.
“I’m married,” a senior in his thirties steps out and stands next to Liu Yu’an, “so I’m in his group as well.”
“His group my arse,” one of the singles bitterly remarks, “look at Xiao-Liu who is just visiting but is ordering takeout for his beloved at noon and look at you who’s been working here these years and never once ordered takeout for your wife.”
“She’s at home, why would she need takeout?”
The singles “…”
“Xiao-Liu is having it good,” one of the teachers say, “a relationship successful as his career is. Soon he’s going to form a family.”
“Xiao-Liu, what stage are you at? Not at marriage talk yet, right?” One of the poor single seniors asks, hopeful, to counter the mounting pressure from the surroundings.
Everyone has had relationships, even them. It just didn’t end in marriage.
But Liu Yu’an smothers him with a wet blanket, saying with a smile, “I’m married.”
At the same time, he’s pretty impressed by the general atmosphere in the national theatre.
There aren’t any of those things like infighting or suffocating undercurrent. It’s warm and welcoming.
And of course, he wouldn’t mind people revealing that he’s married. If Xiao Yanxi was willing, he could go public at any time.
The singles fight back, “seriously? At 24? Marriage is the tombstone of love. To be buried at such a young age, Xiao-Liu, my condolences.”
At the same time, they’re pretty surprised as well. Since Liu Yu’an is a genuine actor in the entertainment industry, he has it even harder than casual opera actors like them. And yet still managing to get married at 24, huh.
Then they decide to have some fun guessing at what kind of amazing person could have taken Liu Yu’an in so completely.
Liu Yu’an chuckles, “I’ll take him along to visit in the future.”
“Sure, we look forward to it,” and everyone is smiling.
As he didn’t sleep well last night, Shao Yanxi was in a bad mood today.
At noon, when he got the message from Liu Yu’an that he ordered takeout for him, he is still feeling unreal.
He again recalls that Liu Yu’an said he kissed him because of the game.
At night, Liu Yu’an does not return to Qingjiangshui.
He tells Liu Yu’an via a message that he isn’t going home tonight and he doesn’t need to pick him up. Then he goes back to his former residence with his phone shut off.
It’s a mansion on a single island in a lake.
Inside, Shao Yanxi is lying on his bed. He has slept here for 20 odd years already, only starting to live in Qingjiangshui a while ago.
Liu Yu’an… He decides to think clearly about his relationship with Liu Yu’an.
Currently, they are formally registered as a married couple.
He seems to have fallen for Liu Yu’an all over again.
And Liu Yu’an keeps saying how much he loved him every day, but it always stopped there. There wasn’t anything more than that.
Considering himself, as an adult, he likes Liu Yu’an, so he wants to hug him, to kiss him, and even to…
But Liu Yu’an never told him anything similar.
He stopped with words.
Even the kiss before… was a game.
Shao Yanxi then starts thinking, that if he didn’t enter the room at the time he did, whether Liu Yu’an would have kissed somebody else.
Then, Shao Yanxi starts thinking that maybe he should look for someone else while his feelings towards Liu Yu’an still isn’t that strong.
That way, he would not again do anything irrational because Liu Yu’an does not respond to his overly passionate feelings.
Liu Yu’an receives Shao Yanxi’s message as he left the theatre and was about to call him.
He quickly dials Shao Yanxi’s number.
But he is only greeted by a ‘The number you called is not available.’
At first, Liu Yu’an suspects his phone is out of power, but, at nine that night, he realises his phone is still unreachable.
He decides to call assistant He.
That is when he learns that Shao Yanxi has been off work for a while now and has no other plans for the day.
Liu Yu’an furrows his brows as he tries to recall the contents of the original novel.
So he decides to head for Shao Yanxi’s old mansion. When he drove there, however, he couldn’t get in.
As guests were not expected, there isn’t even a doorbell here.
Liu Yu’an waited for a long time before driving back.
The next morning, when Liu Yu’an calls again, Shao Yanxi’s phone is finally on.
Liu Yu’an is a bit angry Shao Yanxi just ran off last night, “what happened last night?”
“Didn’t I send you a message?” Shao Yanxi says, then he continues, “I’m busy, call me back later.”
And hangs up.
Shao Yanxi decides to keep his distance from Liu Yu’an, who, meanwhile, has no idea what Shao Yanxi just decided and is a bit angrier now. Because Shao Yanxi seems to have clearly forgotten that today is Saturday, and they promised each other they’d head out to play.
But then, assistant He sends him a message, “Mr. Liu, did something happen between you and the boss?”
Liu Yu’an is surprised to be contacted by him of all people, he calls him directly, “what’s wrong?”
“You should come take a look yourself at Heng’an.”
In the past, assistant He would never have notified Liu Yu’an anything. In fact, he would prefer if his boss abandoned Liu Yu’an for some other celebrity.
But recently, everyone can see how good Liu Yu’an has become to the boss, and most importantly, the assistant is pretty sure the boss likes Liu Yu’an still.
He saw the boss staring blankly at Liu Yu’an’s photo this morning, and blanking out is not something his robot-like boss would ever do normally, but it is all because of Liu Yu’an.
So he is convinced Shao Yanxi is currently looking for a roster of celebrities because of some fight he had with Liu Yu’an or something, and is doing it to spite him.
It’s ridiculous, summoning 7, 8 of the celebrities to enter his office in public, what kind of extramarital affair is this? It is painfully obvious he wants Liu Yu’an to notice.
Shao Yanxi, meanwhile, has no idea what his assistant is thinking. In fact, he’d probably puke up blood knowing what he thought.
He called the celebrities to his office because one, he had no prior experience, and two, he is subconsciously convinced Liu Yu’an wouldn’t care, and three… Although he’s going to be a sugar daddy, he still wants to keep someone who looks good, and has common interests with him, and is willing to follow him around.
So…
So, when Liu Yu’an hurries over and pushes open Shao Yanxi’s office, he comes across this scene.
Shao Yanxi is sitting on his boss chair as the celebrities all sit fixedly on the sofa like bok choy waiting to be plucked and awaiting further instructions from Shao Yanxi.
Most of them Liu Yu’an recognise – they’re from the same company as he is.
Damn you, CEO Ning Xi. I’ll remember this.
Of course, just as Liu Yu’an recognises them, so do they recognise Liu Yu’an. When they see how Liu Yu’an could just enter without knocking, they’re all pretty shocked.
Their thoughts start to get to work. Some think Liu Yu’an really had a sugar daddy – Shao Yanxi, who is now tired of him and so Liu Yu’an is here to question him.
Some also feel something off. Liu Yu’an doesn’t seem to be the typical toy boy. His anger, his entering Shao Yanxi’s company without trouble, his entering this office without so much as a knock.
That means even if he was still a toyboy, then he’s still a special toy boy. They should be wary here.
Though it’s a shame, as Shao Yanxi really makes for a pretty amazing sugar daddy. He’s young, rich, and handsome, even more handsome than anyone sitting here. And that aura of dominance about him really is mesmerising.
They would be really willing to have a go with someone like him even for nothing in return.
And naturally, Shao Yanxi also sees Liu Yu’an here. Though he’s already readied himself mentally, but seeing Liu Yu’an still makes Shao Yanxi feel a bit sorry inside. So he sits up even straighter on the chair.
Liu Yu’an fires him a fierce glance before looking at the celebrities present. Great, one of them is his rival, even.
Amazing.
Shao Yanxi, amazing.
“Get out,” Liu Yu’an is looking at the celebrities without holding anything back, so the aura is almost suffocating – of course, it is the aura of someone who has actually killed, on whose face you can see the coldbloodedness if he wanted to show.
And obviously, mere celebrities would not have ever have suffered such a mental attack. Some of them quickly run outside, scared.
A few are still rationally countering, saying, “why should I? You…” Unfortunately, the stutter is unavoidable seeing Liu Yu’an’s gaze, “not, not even Mr. Shao has told us to, to get out, why should I listen…”
“Why, you ask?” Liu Yu’an is so angry he’s smiling, “because my name is right next to his on the marriage registry. Now fuck off.”
Liu Yu’an’s ‘fuck off’ not only scares the two celebrities remaining who also run outside, scared, but Shao Yanxi as well.
“Busy, you said?” After the celebrities have left, Liu Yu’an turns to face Shao Yanxi, with unbridled anger on his face.