“Does Brother Gu want to help me?” Xian Sui clearly understood what Gu Fanzhou meant. He was already very familiar with the script and didn’t need to look at it now to recall the plot of the next scene.
“If you need me to.” Gu Fanzhou leaned closer to him.
Xian Sui didn’t reply, instead putting the script down, moving closer to Gu Fanzhou, and slightly raising his chin to reach the other man’s lips.
Gu Fanzhou placed his hands on Xian Sui’s shoulders. Just like the last time on set, he started out with a very gentle kiss that gradually turned into something more predatory. Xian Sui’s body trembled uncontrollably, and he wrapped one arm tightly around Gu Fanzhou’s back, as if worried he might give in to the urge to pull away.
Xian Sui happened to be wearing a thin shirt. Gu Fanzhou slid his palm downward, and upon making contact with the fabric, quickly unbuttoned the topmost buttons, lowering his head to kiss Xian Sui’s chest.
“Brother Gu,” Xian Sui opened his eyes, his eyelashes fluttering imperceptibly as he raised a hand to press against Gu Fanzhou’s shoulder and stop his movements, “that’s enough.”
Gu Fanzhou let him go.
Xian Sui hurriedly turned around, his back facing Gu Fanzhou, and walked in a few strides to the balcony door. “Your domestic helper isn’t here, so I made some breakfast. I’m not sure if it suits your taste, let me go heat it up for you.”
When taking the elevator downstairs, Xian Sui seized the opportunity to take a few deep breaths and button up his shirt.
He didn’t dare recall the sensation of kissing Gu Fanzhou just now, as if those few short minutes had already settled into a specific nerve of his, ready to spark a reaction at the slightest touch.
After calming down, he simply reheated the breakfast he had prepared for Gu Fanzhou, served it, and found that Gu Fanzhou was already sitting in the dining room waiting for him. The food Xian Sui made was very simple: a small pan-seared meat chop, an egg, two slices of toasted bread, and a full glass of warm milk.
He watched Gu Fanzhou cut off a bite and put it in his mouth, unable to hold back from asking, “Is it good?”
“If I lacked a sense of taste, I suppose I would say it’s good.” Gu Fanzhou showed no mercy.
“What?” Xian Sui reached out, intending to take the plate back from in front of Gu Fanzhou. “Then don’t eat it.”
“I’m hungry.” Gu Fanzhou stubbornly pushed the plate back toward himself and continued eating with an expressionless face. Although Xian Sui had been feeling disgruntled, seeing Gu Fanzhou clean the plate completely, he didn’t find the heart to say anything more.
After all, they say that finishing one’s food is the greatest respect one can show the cook.
Watching this little puffer fish go from puffed-up cheeks to letting out a deflated sigh, Gu Fanzhou found it amusing for no particular reason. He couldn’t help staring at Xian Sui for a good while, but upon realizing that compared to eating breakfast, he wanted to taste Xian Sui’s lips even more, he quickly shifted his gaze away, attempting to chase that terrifying thought out of his mind.
Xian Sui touched his face, thinking there might be a smudge somewhere, and went to the bathroom to check the mirror, only to find everything in order.
He stood in front of the mirror sizing himself up for a long while, still unable to figure out what was wrong.
Surely his face wasn’t something people could eat.
Upon arriving at the set and seeing Meng Qiao, Xian Sui first asked how the emergency matter from last night had been handled. Confirming that everything went smoothly for the other person, he steered the conversation back to filming.
The morning started off with the filming of Gu Fanzhou’s scenes with his family. Fu Minglou was being punished by Old Master Fu at the Fu residence, forced to kneel for half the night before the great-grandfather’s memorial tablet, closely watched by servants without being allowed to move an inch.
Fu Lady was in poor health, and even while coughing behind her handkerchief, she insisted on coming to Fu Minglou’s side to help him up, only to be blocked by the servants who warned that if the old master saw, the punishment would be even harsher.
“The night wind is cold. If the young master falls ill, how will any of you bear the responsibility?” Fu Lady coughed heavily twice. “All day long you only know the old master. In this household, are the two of us mother and son so much more humble than him?”
“We wouldn’t dare, Lady, Young Master.” The servants hurriedly dropped to their knees. Fu Lady let out a long sigh, punishing no one and telling them all to withdraw so she could speak with the young master for a moment.
“Minglou, it’s not that your mother is taking your father’s side. If you love going to dance halls to look for young women, occasionally visiting to sit inside for a bit is fine. But if it’s truly as your father says, getting too close to those dance hostesses is never a good thing.”
“Mother, I know what I’m doing.” Fu Minglou’s tone was firm.
“You were raised by your mother, how could your mother not know your stubborn nature? Once your mind is made up, you refuse to bend.” Fu Lady’s skeletal hand pressed against Fu Minglou’s shoulder. “But this time, listen to your mother’s advice. Those women are merely putting on a show, and if you fall into it, there’s no telling how badly you’ll be tricked.”
Fu Minglou simply chose not to reply.
Right at that moment, Fu Lady started coughing. Feeling anxious, Fu Minglou promptly had the servants escort her back to rest.
Before leaving, Fu Lady still didn’t forget to offer a few more words of admonition. Before she could finish speaking, footsteps suddenly sounded outside the door. “Didn’t the young master tell you to escort Lady back to rest? Why are you all moving so slowly?”
Evidently, it was Old Master Fu who had entered. At last, he turned his profile and looked toward Fu Lady. “Lady should focus on recovering properly. Minglou’s matters will be handled by me.”
Fu Lady was led back to her room by the servants. Lowering his gaze to look down at the top of Fu Minglou’s head as he remained kneeling on the ground, Old Master Fu spoke with a voice heavy with suppression: “Is it merely entangling yourself with a dance hostess? Minglou, what trouble you’ve brought upon yourself, you surely don’t need me to spell it out.”
“It’s nothing more than wanting me to guard the so-called face of the Fu family,” Fu Minglou let out a mocking chuckle, raising his head to meet Old Master Fu’s gaze. “Do you even have the right to lecture me?”
Old Master Fu struck Fu Minglou across the face with a slap right on the spot. Far from looking grieved or annoyed, Fu Minglou laughed even harder than before.
“Tonight, don’t even dream of walking out this front gate.” Old Master Fu flung his sleeve in anger, tossed down those words, and left without looking back, instructing the servants to lock the door behind him.
Fu Minglou clearly didn’t take Old Master Fu’s words seriously. He straightened his body, his legs still slightly numb from kneeling for too long. He searched every corner of the room until he found a single window that could be opened.
With a single agile vault, he slipped out the window. To avoid alerting anyone inside the house, Fu Minglou walked out to the street before hailing a rickshaw. “Driver, please take me to the City of Night.”
Stepping out of the rickshaw at the entrance of the City of Night, Fu Minglou happened to see Jian Shuyu walking out. Taken aback upon seeing him appear before his eyes, Jian Shuyu blinked. “Young Master Fu?”
“I was locked up by my old man. If I hadn’t escaped through the window, I wouldn’t have been able to come see you at all.” Fu Minglou hurried over to explain, pulling Jian Shuyu toward the back alley of the City of Night out of fear of being spotted by his father’s men.
Jian Shuyu swept a glance over Fu Minglou, letting out an inner sigh of relief upon seeing that the other man had sustained no injuries. “I’m grateful that Young Master Fu still keeps Shuyu in mind.”
“Shall we go to your place?” Fu Minglou gently caught Jian Shuyu’s wrist.
Jian Shuyu pulled his hand away. “It’s not very convenient for Shuyu tonight. I have a guest who requires my company, so I’m afraid Young Master Fu will have to be disappointed.”
Fu Minglou furrowed his brows involuntarily. “When you went out, there was no one beside you.”
“There were simply matters to attend to, and I was told to wait a moment.” Jian Shuyu took a step back. “Am I supposed to turn away business and wait idly for the young master to arrive?”
Fu Minglou let out a soft laugh. “Is that so?”
He stepped close to Jian Shuyu, pressing a forceful kiss to his lips that grew increasingly fierce toward the end.
Jian Shuyu didn’t refuse him. Fu Minglou went ahead and unbuttoned the frog buttons of Jian Shuyu’s cheongsam, kissing the snow-white skin and leaving a bright red tooth mark at the finish.
Fu Minglou rebuttoned his clothes for him. “Aren’t you afraid I’ll keep going?”
“Shuyu is used to being cheap, I don’t care.”
Fu Minglou fell abruptly silent, realizing he couldn’t prove anything at all. “Can anyone touch you?”
“You might not know since you don’t frequent the City of Night often, but Shuyu is a dance hostess. Every part of my body has its price tag.” Jian Shuyu deliberately averted Fu Minglou’s gaze.
“I know my father came to see you.”
“That’s no surprise, Old Master Fu is a regular customer of mine.”
Realizing he could no longer pry anything further out of Jian Shuyu, Fu Minglou stopped pressing him. “See you tomorrow night, Miss Shuyu.”
Jian Shuyu remained standing in place, watching Fu Minglou’s retreating figure grow smaller and smaller until that speck completely vanished, before finally stepping out from the night alley.
The director called cut, but Xian Sui remained standing blankly in place for a moment, his gaze fixed on the intersection where Gu Fanzhou had just disappeared.
Noticing his abnormality, Gu Fanzhou walked back to Xian Sui’s side and gently tapped him on the shoulder. “Xian Sui, go take a break.”
“Ah, right.” Xian Sui snapped out of his trance, pulled on the coat handed over by his assistant, and as soon as he stepped away from the alleyway, saw Gu Fanzhou conversing with Xie Tangqing.
He instinctively paused his steps, casting a glance around to confirm that Xie Zhuangqiu was not accompanying his sister.
Gu Fanzhou maintained a polite distance from Xie Tangqing, his costume still unchanged. “President Xie is right, you should listen to him.”
“I know my brother is always at odds with you, I just didn’t want to believe it,” Xie Tangqing pouted with a look of grievance. “Now that I’m hearing you admit it yourself, I really don’t know what to say.”
“Since it’s mealtime, you should go back and get something to eat.”
“I’ll head back later, but I’m still coming to the set to learn a thing or two, and by the way, keep an eye on things for my brother. Star Award has investments in this film too.” Xie Tangqing smiled faintly, her smile carrying plenty of charm as a popular actress. “I’ll still have to trouble Brother Gu to offer guidance.”
“As you like.” Gu Fanzhou’s tone remained indifferent.
Knowing that Xie Tangqing was pursuing Gu Fanzhou, Xian Sui felt an inexplicable tightness in his chest upon witnessing this scene.
On a sudden impulse, he walked over toward Gu Fanzhou, completely disregarding whether he might be interrupting their conversation, and grabbed hold of Gu Fanzhou’s wrist.
“Brother Gu.”