After that, the two didn’t see each other for another month. Xu Ji called his parents and said he had to go on a business trip and simply didn’t go back.
He also thought about hiring a private detective to follow Li Ting and then throw some indecent photos directly in front of his parents. This would definitely make them break up, but he couldn’t bring himself to do something like that. Sneaking around and taking photos was too low.
Saying he was going on a business trip wasn’t a lie. His mentor had recently started up a project and began filming. Xu Ji received an invitation and didn’t want to miss a good learning opportunity so he immediately bought a plane ticket to fly to the neighboring province.
Not wanting to see Li Ting was just a side note.
His teacher, Chen Fusheng, didn’t only shoot advertisements and MVs like him. People call him Director Chen, he was a big director who shot actual films.
So Xu Ji went to leech off another kickoff feast. As a “guest” and someone who was arranged to sit next to Chen Fusheng, everyone at the table was curious about him, and many people sneaked several glances at him.
Mainly because he was too handsome.
The male lead in this film was a man with a lot of charm, he exuded a quiet aura that came with the accumulation of years. Looking just at the face, Xu Ji was indeed more handsome than the male lead, which made it difficult for everyone not to think whether he was a background guy thrown in.
“Let me introduce,” Chen Fusheng lifted his glass and drank it all in one go, “my student Xu Ji! He just came to help out and look around, don’t mind him too much.”
As soon as he said that, the tense atmosphere at the dinner table dissipated in an instant. The male actors let out a sigh of relief, while the female actors started to look at him openly.
One person even directly puzzled Xu Ji because of how much she looked at him.
That actress looked quite young with a cute round face. She felt a bit embarrassed when she was caught looking at Xu Ji and quickly averted her gaze. But before long, her eyes couldn’t help but peek in Xu Ji’s direction again.
Chen Fusheng was highly perceptive, he immediately joked, “Xiao Lin, do you want to exchange contact information with him? Xu Ji happens to be your senior in the same major, so if you have any questions, you can ask him.”
Both of them were stunned. Xu Ji stood up first and walked over to the actress, taking out his QR code for her to scan. The latter scanned it with a bit of shyness.
The kickoff feast ended and everyone left. When only Xu Ji and Chen Fusheng remained, Xu Ji finally said helplessly, “Teacher, when are you going to stop playing matchmaker? Have you forgotten that I’m already married?”
Chen Fusheng was the host, and had Xu Ji refused directly at that time, not only would it make everyone uncomfortable, but also put his teacher in a difficult spot.
“Ah,” Chen Fusheng slapped his head, “I really forgot. I’ll talk to Xiao Lin later, you explain it clearly to your wife!”
Chen Fusheng had another gathering after so Xu Ji planned to return to the hotel first. The surrounding night scenery was bustling, the lights were dazzling, and behind the hotel was the Li River. A huge cruise ship was brightly lit on the surface of the river, and many couples were taking pictures by the railing.
When he was very young, Xu Ji had taken a nighttime tour of the Li River before, and the experience had left a deep impression on him, mainly because out of all the food there, only the stir-fried tomato and egg was barely edible.
Standing by the roadside waiting for a car, the driver told him that there were too many people here and it might stay jammed for a while. Just as he hung up the phone, he suddenly heard a hustle of voices behind him. He casually glanced back and saw Li Ting’s parents. They were surrounding a big-bellied man, wearing the same flattering expressions on their faces as they had when they visited his home.
They noticed him too, and perhaps feeling embarrassed, their smiles stiffened as they said to the man, “Alright, Mr. Wang, you go ahead, we’ll contact you later.”
Although he didn’t particularly like them, they were still the parents of his legal wife, so he walked up to them and greeted them, “Uncle and Auntie.”
It was only then that Xu Ji remembered that Li Ting wasn’t from G City, but had moved from S City, the city Xu Ji was currently in.
“I happened to be here on a business trip,” Xu Ji said.
Mother Li looked around and said, “Why didn’t you bring Li Ting along? It’s good to have someone to take care of you in case anything happens.”
Xu Ji somehow felt a hidden meaning behind her words, that she was afraid that he would play around outside and Li Ting wouldn’t be able to control him. He thought to himself, then you really got the roles reversed.
“How long is your business trip?”
“About half a month,” Xu Ji said.
Mother Li said, “That’s so long! You two just got married, wouldn’t it be hard to get used to being apart for so long? And according to what Li Ting told us, you two have a great relationship, talking on the phone every day! “
Xu Ji, “?”
“Yes, yes,” Father Li also said, “Li Ting said that you two always take a walk together after dinner, so nice to be young.”
Xu Ji, “…?”
“Hey, you two haven’t talked on the phone today yet, right? Since you’re here, I’ll give Li Ting a call.”
Xu Ji felt absurd. Before he could stop it, the call already started ringing. Just when he thought about turning away from them and walking away, the call connected.
The phone was on speaker, and through the wireless waves, Li Ting’s voice sounded even gentler. “Mom, what’s up?”
Xu Ji didn’t understand why Li Ting still kept a good attitude in front of such parents. They treated their own son as a bargaining chip for an alliance marriage, marrying him off to a stranger to save their company. Oh, maybe their son was very willing to do so. After all, he was the one who took the initiative to ask to marry into his family. Perhaps it was even a family celebration.
Mother Li looked very happy, “We’re at the Li River right now. Guess who we bumped into?”
Asking such a question, it had to be someone related to him. Who else could it be other than Xu Ji? Li Ting’s throat inexplicably tightened, but not obvious enough for anyone to notice. “Xu Ji? What did you guys talk about?”
“Nothing,” Mother Li said, “just asked if you’ve been staying at home, if you’ve caused any trouble, that’s all. Right, Xiao Ji?”
Both Li Ting and Xu Ji were silent for a moment.
After a while, Xu Ji said irritably, “Mn, no trouble.”
He had no intention of snitching to the Li parents. It’s too troublesome, after all, they decided to stick themselves to his family, so they’ll definitely persuade him to reconcile rather than separate.
Li Ting laughed on the other end, very low and deep, and said, “I’m very obedient after all.”
Xu Ji raised the corners of his mouth.
“Haha, that’s right,” Mother Li also laughed, “Li Ting has been pampered and spoiled since childhood, that’s why he grew up to have such good looks. I actually couldn’t bear to let him go, I was afraid that he would find it hard to adapt!”
When Li Ting heard this, he let out another short laugh, its meaning unclear.
Perhaps his displeasure was too obvious, as the conversation with the Li family did not last long before they said goodbye.
The cab driver just happened to inform Xu Ji right then that he was almost there, so he was about to say goodbye when—
“Mom, Dad!” A dandy-looking young man walked quickly towards them from the hotel entrance, “Why aren’t you two waiting for me inside?”
Before Xu Ji could even get a good look at what the man looked like, all he could see were the remnants of lipstick on his neck, which made it clear how conspicuous he was.
The Li parents explained stiffly, “Our eldest son, Li Yue.”
Li Yue felt annoyed whenever he saw handsome guys, since women always flock to them. What’s so good about them other than their looks? And his so-called younger brother is even more so! He just gave a perfunctory greeting of “Hello”.
Xu Ji didn’t even want to bother opening his mouth. When he first saw Li Ting’s appearance which was completely unrelated to his parents, he thought that Li Ting might be some kind of genetically modified organism. After seeing their eldest son, he became even more convinced that Li Ting was really a genetically modified organism.
Regardless of appearance, the two brothers had similar virtues, as expected of a true family.
Xu Ji nodded coldly and left.
After that, he kept to a routine back and forth between the hotel and the set, avoiding any possibility of running into acquaintances.
Chen Fusheng probably has talked to the actress who added him on WeChat, since she hasn’t contacted him since, not even a greeting. So on the day he left, Xu Ji took the initiative to send a message, “Let’s delete each other please, thank you.”
He booked a flight on the afternoon of the 20th. Just as he landed and was waiting for his luggage, he received a call from Ji Fangchi.
“Ge!” Fangchi sounded very panicked on the phone, as if he had been chased by a dog for 800 miles and was still panting. “Ge, my sister-in-law!”
Xu Ji already felt annoyed when he heard about Li Ting, “What about him?”
“Not that!” Ji Fangchi swallowed a big gulp, “Um, Ge, you need to be mentally prepared… don’t be too sad.”
Xu Ji said, “Spit it out, or I’ll hang up.”
“Sister-in-law seems to be cheating!” Ji Fangchi closed his eyes and directly blurted out.
?
Xu Ji, “… What?”
Ji Fangchi felt unfair for Xu Ji. Although Xu Ji was sometimes insistent and didn’t like dealing with people, he was really nice and handsome. How could sister-in-law do this!
He said with grief and indignation, “I went to visit my classmate who lived in the same neighborhood as you. When I passed your building, I saw sister-in-law sneaking in with another woman. The moment the door closed, it seemed like sister-in-law even had his arms around that woman’s waist!”
“Sister-in-law is cheating!” Ji Fangchi shouted again, as if he was the one who got cheated on, “Cheat! Ing!”